THE DAILY BRIEFING

LSE PROBE

The planned merger between Deutsche Boerse and the London Stock Exchange is facing a more stringent EU probe after being referred to regulators for an initial review last month. A preliminary decision is expected at the end of this month.

SWIRES’ £57M

The Swire family, whose business empire includes Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific airline, have shared part of a £57m dividend, latest accounts show. John Swire & Sons issued the shareholder reward in the year profits fell to £579m while sales rose 5pc to £6.9bn.

TAX TRIAL

Government plans to modernise tax returns by making them digital should be delayed and piloted first, says Andrew Tyrie, chairman of the Commons Treasury committee. In a letter to Chancellor Philip Hammond, he wrote: ‘There remains considerable cause for concern with the proposals, better to get it right than to stick to a rigid timetable.’

DIAGEO CUTS

Smirnoff owner Diageo could make up to 400 of the 1,500 staff at its London headquarters redundant to cut costs. The firm, which owns Guinness, wants to save £166m annually.

MARKS THREAT

French Connection boss Stephen Marks will face increased pressure to step down this week following years of dismal trading. Activist investor Gatemore Capital bought an 8pc stake and has been agitating for change at the top. Gatemore is likely to seize on any sales slump in tomorrow’s financial update.

SHOPPERS UP

The number of shoppers rose 0.1pc last month as consumers bought items for their summer holidays – a sharp improvement on the 0.4pc fall seen in July, according to the BRC Springboard monitor. The total has fallen for seven consecutive months.