BUSINESS LIVE: UK retail sales up in August; Ashtead Group appoints new CFO; Michelmersh profits fall

Rolls-Royce saw almost £3bn wiped off its value yesterday after a Hong Kong airline discovered a faulty engine part, sending its share price soaring again today

Cathay Pacific Airways said one of its Airbus A350 aircraft had to return to Hong Kong during a flight to Zurich yesterday after the problem was discovered.

The butcher, greengrocer and milkman were once important figures in everyday life in Britain.

But in a world of 24-hour supermarkets and processed foods, they are at risk of extinction.

Hewlett Packard has confirmed it plans to proceed with its claim for up to £3 billion in damages against the estate of Mike Lynch following his death in last month’s superyacht disaster.

The US tech giant won a civil case in the High Court against the tech magnate in 2022, accusing him and his former chief financial officer.

Harrods has trained its staff to intervene if customers are sexually harassed, amid a worrying epidemic of crime in its stores.

The London department store said it introduced a policy last year to require all employees to undergo mandatory training on the topic.

Ashtead Group expects annual results to be ‘in line’ with expectations despite a fall in first-quarter profit.

The equipment rental company, which leases machines such as battery-powered saws and forklifts, saw pre-tax profit fall 7 percent – or $544 million (£414 million) – in the first quarter to July 31.

UK retail sales rose last month as warm weather prompted Britons to buy more food for social occasions, new figures show.

The British Retail Consortium said retail sales rose by an annual rate of 1 percent in the four weeks to August 24, compared with growth of 4.1 percent in August 2023.

Automakers are being forced to build vehicles that drivers “don’t want” to meet green targets, one of the country’s largest dealership chains has warned.

Under rules introduced by the previous Tory government, 22 per cent of new cars sold next year will have to be zero-emission, rising to 80 per cent by 2030.

The crisis plaguing the German economy deepened yesterday when carmaker Volkswagen announced it would close factories in the country for the first time in its 87-year history.

VW said major cost-cutting measures were needed as separate figures showed the eurozone’s manufacturing sector was “deteriorating rapidly”.

For most people, listening to a CEO present a company report on its quarterly results is not exactly a great party.

Except when it comes to Nvidia, the American computer chip designer also known as the most important stock on planet Earth.

According to the British Retail Consortium, retail sales rose 1% year-on-year in August.

Growth was driven by warm weather and the Paris Olympics, which saw Britons buy more food for social occasions, and there was also increased demand for clothing, health and beauty products.

Linda Ellett, UK Head of Consumer, Retail & Leisure at KPMG, said: Consumer confidence is slowly starting to improve, but there is still some nervousness about possible tax hikes and the cost of turning the heating back on when cooler weather arrives.

The fragile nature of consumer confidence means that buyers are still driven by price and value, switching from brand to brand in search of the best value for money. We are likely to see retailers use promotional activity to gain this confidence.

Matt Britzman, senior equities analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, commented on the markets this morning:

The FTSE 100 opened slightly higher as investors digested a series of company releases and new retail sales figures, suggesting consumer spending power remains strong.

BRC data for August showed non-food retail sales rose by just 1%, with Barclays Card spending showing a similar increase. Consumers are now bracing for higher energy bills next month and possible tax rises following Labour’s first budget.

US markets took a day off yesterday, with futures trading suggesting a weaker open later today. There are some tricky seasonal trends in store, as September is historically a bad month for the S&P 500.

Add to that political and geopolitical uncertainty, and investors are likely to have a volatile month. Friday’s US non-farm payrolls data is the highlight of the week, which could have a meaningful impact on the size of the first Fed cut later this month.