BUSINESS LIVE: Retail sales rose 2% last month; Imperial increases shareholder returns; Vistry cuts earnings outlook

Vistry Group shares plummeted on Tuesday and the company warned of a £115 million profit loss due to higher-than-expected construction costs.

One of Britain’s biggest housebuilders saw its shares plunge 22.6 percent to 985.5p by early afternoon, making them the biggest fallers on the FTSE 250 Index, although they remain just above their value in early January.

The majority of homes in Britain are underinsured, according to an analysis by a building insurance valuation firm.

Seven in ten homes are currently underinsured, according to figures from Rebuild Cost Assessment.

The average trader is £6,210 behind on payments and chasing seven outstanding invoices, new research shows.

Direct Line Business Insurance research shows that four in five traders owe money.

Buying a new car is expensive without having to pay hundreds or even thousands of euros in repair costs.

But there is a way potential buyers can help avoid this by consulting reliability surveys where owners provide feedback on how reliable their car is and whether they would recommend it.

Britain should impose an ‘exit tax’ on wealthy expatriates, economists have said – as it emerged the country would lose a fifth of its millionaires under Labor.

Currently, Britain does not charge capital gains tax (CGT) on wealthy entrepreneurs and investors who leave the country for more than five years.

Cartier owner Richemont has agreed to sell Yoox Net-a-Porter to a German online retailer.

The Swiss luxury company will swap the troubled e-commerce retailer for a 33 percent stake in Mytheresa.

John Lewis has axed its chief executive position just weeks after the departure of Sharon White.

Nish Kankiwala will step down in March after just two years in the role and become a non-executive director.

A protein powder company founded by a scaffolder who grew up on a Liverpool council estate is joining London’s £500 million stock market.

In a major boost for the city, sports health brand Applied Nutrition confirmed plans to float its shares in Britain this month.

More than 1,000 staff have lost their jobs at TGI Fridays after a rescue deal collapsed.

Breal Capital and Calveton UK have bought 51 restaurants after the group’s previous operator went into administration.

House building giant Vistry has warned of a hit to profits after discovering higher-than-expected construction costs for nine projects in its southern division.

The group’s shares fell by around a third after it emerged that it had “recently concluded” that costs for nine of the division’s 46 developments, including some large-scale projects, had been understated by around 10%.

Underlying pre-tax profit this year is expected to be around £80m lower than expected at around £350m – down 16% from the £419.1m reported for 2023.

It will also have an impact on profits over the next two years, with the group forecasting profits of around £30m in 2025 and £5m in 2026.

Vistry – formerly known as Bovis Homes – said it has launched an independent investigation into the matter, adding that it is reviewing management in the southern division following the revelation.

The death of Mike Lynch in the Bayesian superyacht disaster was the tragic event of the summer.

The ship sank off the coast of Sicily on August 19, killing Lynch, his daughter and five other people.

Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown, comments on Imperial Brands’ results:

Imperial Brands is succeeding in driving growth not only in its young, next-generation brands, but also in ‘legacy’ tobacco products that still account for the lion’s share of sales.

Overall, tobacco volume pressure has eased in the company’s focus markets, and despite slowing price increases for the pleasure of lighting up, prices have remained strong. However, the decline in market share in Germany and Great Britain remains a concern.

At Next Generation Products, net sales growth is expected to be in the range of 20% to 30%, indicating significant acceleration in the second half, driven by a raft of new product launches across vapes, non-tobacco products and oral pouches .

Imperial’s execution and narrower focus on core markets are helping the company keep organic growth moving, while larger rivals have taken the opposite path. It is confident it will meet expectations for the year just ended, with underlying operating profit growth firmly in the mid-single digit range.

Water companies have been ordered to return almost £158m to customers for failing to meet standards, the regulator said.

Ofwat has said water companies in England and Wales will have to pay a £157.6 million fine after missing key targets on reducing pollution, leaks and supply disruptions, while customer satisfaction continues to fall.

While market observers worry about rising oil prices amid an escalating conflict in the Middle East, the rising price of another commodity starting with O has largely escaped headlines.

But shoppers are unlikely to have missed the astronomical rise in OJ costs in recent years – and experts warn that prices at the checkout could continue to rise.

Brits cut back on buying ‘essential’ items last month but splurged on treats like Oasis tickets, new data shows.

Barclays’ consumer spending report, which analyzes millions of customer transactions, shows that total spending increased by 1.2 percent annually in September.