THE DAILY BRIEFING
TAX CLAMPDOWN KPMG has admitted that ‘times have changed’ after the Government announced plans to fine accountants who help clients avoid tax up to 100pc of the amount avoided.
A spokesman for the firm said: ‘What was seen as acceptable behaviour is no longer regarded as appropriate.’
Rival EY said it supports ‘improving certainty and transparency in the tax system and compliance with it’ while PwC warned any new measures should not affect its ability to give advice to clients. LSE HURDLE The German firm seeking to take over the London Stock Exchange has cleared another hurdle. Around 89pc of Deutsche shares were offered up by investors ahead of yesterday’s deadline to swap them for stock in a new merged company if the deal goes ahead.
It came after the deal scraped through with 60.35pc approval from the Frankfurt-based company’s shareholders. DRIVING FORCE Profits motored to a record at Lookers but the car dealer said the market was likely to shift down a gear in the second half. It reported a 16pc rise in first-half profits to £50.1m and boosted its interim dividend by 20pc to 1.28p.
Chief executive Andy Bruce said the Brexit vote was likely to be among the ‘bumps in the road’ towards its target of 3m in new sales. Shares fell 1.5pc, or 2p to 129p. ROUGH DIAMOND London-listed miner Gem Diamonds saw half-year sales fall after it said it had looked in the wrong place for big gems.
The shares fell 4.3pc, or 5.5p to 122p after chief executive Clifford Elphick said workers were now looking in more ‘prospective areas’.
Sales fell 7.6pc to £83.7m for the six months to June 30, however it paid a dividend of 3.85p. BIG CROWD Crowd-funding business Crowdcube has raised more than £8m to bankroll growth plans – more than double the previous record for the largest UK equity crowd-fundraiser. It said more than 3,700 investors, alongside venture capital firm Balderton Capital, put money in. PROFITS NOSEDIVE Hong Kongbased airline Cathay Pacific saw halfyear net profits fall 82pc to £35m due to competition and China’s slowdown. It said the same headwinds would remain for the rest of 2016. ITALIAN JOB
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Ryanair will add 10 aircraft to its Italian network and open 44 routes in a move it said would its passenger traffic by 10pc to 35m next year.