THE DAILY BRIEFING

SHELL SALE

Shell is understood to be considering a sale of its £2.4bn Norwegian business. The oil giant may sell part or all of its assets in the country as pressure from shareholders mounts. Investors want the company to pay down the debt from its £35bn takeover of BG. Shell’s debt climbed to £68.3bn at the end of September, in part due to the low oil price.

PAY PUSH

A major fund management group has proposed a radical shake up of executive pay. Aberdeen Asset Management said shareholders should have a greater say over how much money company bosses take home. The group, which manages around £301bn of cash, has suggested that at least 75pc of shareholders should back remuneration deals for them to be passed – up from 50pc currently.

TAX DODGE

Up to £31.6bn of tax revenue may have been lost to the black market over the past five years. Figures from the Taxpayers’ Alliance suggest up to £13.6bn of tax revenue may have been lost through the purchase of illicit cigarettes between the 2010/11 and 2014/15 tax years. Alcohol and diesel are thought to account for much of the rest of the losses.

RETAIL WOE

Shops have been dealt another blow as figures show footfall on the High Street fell 0.4pc over the past year. Visitor numbers at shopping centres across the UK fell by 1.8pc according to figures by Springboard Insights, though footfall at retail parks increased by 1.1pc year-on-year.

PRICE HIKES

Fewer properties on the market has pushed up house prices since the EU referendum. Figures from estate agent Haart show there were 18.8pc fewer properties for sale in October than there were a year ago. The average house sale price has increased 1.5pc to £227,566.