BUSINESS LIVE: UK GDP flattens in April; DFS issues profit warning; Legal & General unveils new strategy

Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at AJ Bell, comments on the latest UK GDP figures:

“The lack of growth in April should not be a surprise. ‘Rain stopped playing’ is the best way to describe things as builders eschewed roofs and shoppers left the high streets in favor of their warm, dry couches.

“The long-term trend for construction is more worrying. Manufacturing has fallen for three months in a row and it is no surprise that political parties are paying so much attention to housing construction, all hoping their policies can deliver a sustainable growth spurt for Britain.

“But no growth is better than negative growth and, combined with the latest wage figures, there doesn’t seem to be much evidence to suggest that the Bank of England’s rate setters are ready to change course.

And there’s already a sense of excitement in the air that big events like the European Championships and Taylor Swift’s Eras tour will help give the economic picture a significant boost by the time we get the half-year results.

Now that summer is finally here, I’ve been wanting to get a cheap desk fan to keep me cool.

If you come across John Lewis, the cheapest you can find is £15; on Amazon you can get one for £12.99.

The Severn Trent boss raked in £3.2million in the last financial year after pocketing a huge bonus despite rising sewage discharges.

Amid a crisis engulfing the water industry, Liv Garfield was awarded a £584,000 bonus on top of her £799,600 basic salary.

Oxford Instruments made major progress as it neared the acquisition of a rival and outlined plans to restructure its operations.

FTSE 250 company, which makes and sells X-ray cameras, microscopes and magnets to academic researchers and commercial customers, is buying a Zurich-based company for £15 million.

Shares of Raspberry Pi soared more than 40 percent yesterday in a bumper debut on the London stock market.

The Cambridge-based computer manufacturer quoted a price of 280p per share, giving it a value of £542m.

According to the Office for National Statistics, the British economy showed no growth in April.

Gross domestic product (GDP) was flat this month, after growing 0.4 percent in March, the ONS said.

Nicholas Hyett, investment manager at Wealth Club, comments on the latest UK GDP figures:

The market had low expectations for the British economy in April, which were met.

Economic growth was flat, slowed for the third month in a row by contraction in the construction sector and weakness in the manufacturing sector. Admittedly, the numbers are not helped by the rainfall which was 155% of the long-term average.

That won’t come as a surprise to anyone who lived through the wet and dreary start to 2024, which nevertheless saw production in residential construction and related industries severely affected. After strong growth in March, it is a return to a less convincing trend.

In an election month, when every data release is closely watched, there is little here to change the narrative.