Deloitte's survey of 104 finance chiefs found that 84 per cent were less optimistic about prospects, compared with 47 per cent three months ago - the survey's biggest drop in confidence on record.

Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou urged them to back his bid to oust four directors at a meeting on May 22 as he thinks the order is a waste of money with the balance sheet already under threat from coronavirus.

More than 300 listed companies have cut or cancelled payouts as they battle to survive. It is now feared that total dividend payments will fall from £98.5 billion last year to just £47.2 billion this year.

According to the FTSE All-World Index, which measures the performance of thousands of companies around the world, global stocks grew at their highest monthly level in nine years.

Sunweb is said to have initially offered customers a full refund by March 31 after Tomorrowland Winter at the French resort Alpe d'Huez, was called off because of the coronavirus.

The firm said that closing its stores in March has had a 'material impact' on trading and the company has initiated a 'broad range of actions to manage its costs and cash flow'.

The IHS Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index gave a reading of 33.4 in April - significantly below the 50 mark which indicates activity was flat.

In an indictment of the failure of the Government's original aid schemes to help many businesses, lenders received tens of thousands of applications for the new 'Bounce Back' loans within hours.

The US fashion brand's lenders will inject £322m of cash and take control of the chain at the same time as cancelling its debt. The preppy brand counts Meghan Markle among its high profile fans.

Carnival has been asked to give all the documents relating to the pandemic and its response to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

The engineer needs to shore up its finances after global air travel was brought virtually to a standstill by the coronavirus pandemic.

The tie-up would transform the telecoms market overnight, creating a powerhouse to challenge former state monopoly BT.

The former FTSE 100 hospitals provider crashed into administration after a series of extraordinary revelations, including that it was harbouring billions of pounds in secret debt.

Staff were asked to go into closed stores once a week and pack up stock so it could be sold online, but were told not to clock in, whistleblowers told the Guardian newspaper.

William Hill is benefiting to the tune of over £30m per month from the wage subsidy scheme and the business rates holiday, while Paddy Power is saving £400,000 per month in business rates.

Virgin blamed the 'severe impact' of coronavirus, which has prompted travel restrictions and forced airlines to ground fleets, and it comes just days after BA said it could also leave.

The Financial Reporting Council has found most accounting firms are failing to assess whether their audits of major companies are any good until after they have already published them.

The insurance giant said it would sell up to 58m shares, which at last night's price of 692.4p would be worth £400m, collecting the money so it could 'respond to future growth opportunities'.

The Financial Services Compensation Scheme is looking at claims from 12,000 savers who bought so-called mini bonds from LCF and were left high and dry when the company collapsed.

The British telecoms giant has long been seen as a potential suitor for broadband provider Virgin after it previously held unsuccessful takeover talks with parent Liberty Global.

Serial investor Vin Murria, an adviser at Hgcapital, bought 13.25 per cent of the AIM-listed company's shares on April 30, according to a stock market announcement yesterday.

Vue boss Tim Richards is 'hopeful' that venues can be open in time for the release date of Nolan's new film, Tenet (starring John David Washington and Robert Pattinson, pictured) on July 17.

The online grocer awarded a £58m pay packet to chief executive Tim Steiner last year, and will give him a bonus of up to £100m over five years if its share price continues to rise.

The group admitted that around 12,000 of its credit card customers, or 1.2 per cent, were already seriously in arrears by three months or more before the pandemic.

The grocer said its decision to stop people ordering bottled mineral water helped it complete 6,000 extra orders a week.

The Lloyd's of London insurer was a top FTSE 250 riser after placing the 57.6m shares, priced at 650p. This was 6 per cent cheaper than its share price the day before the fundraising launched.

Just hours after the online grocer revealed sales have jumped more than 40 per cent in the last five weeks, it emerged that 29.7 per cent of investors had voted against top pay at the company.

The US giant said it will reopen its Shanghai Disneyland park on May 11 but severely limit the number of guests and enforce strict social distancing measures on rides and in restaurants.

Chief executive Philip Jansen, who recently recovered from Covid-19, said a new target of full fibre to 20 million homes by the mid to late 2020s is now in place.

FTSE 100 closed up 1.4 per cent or 82.22 points at 5,935.98 and the pound was at $1.23 against the dollar.

The FTSE-listed group will struggle after the number of hours its engines spent flying in April fell by 90 per cent. Across the first four months of the year, flying hours dropped 40 per cent.

Does it really make sense for pensioners who, directly or indirectly, rely on their income from dividends to have those incomes further cut by Bank of England diktat?

The products and services provided by the big tech firms are deeply embedded in the lives of individuals and the business practices of companies.

ITV's chief exec Carolyn McCall has done the right things to limit the scarring. Some 800 workers have been furloughed, the dividend and executive pay have been cut and costs severely pruned.

What does the terrible economic data tell us about what shape the recovery will have? And is it too late for too many companies?

The anti-viral solution leaves a protective layer that bonds to the surface, creating a safer environment in shared spaces such as restaurants, bars and shops.

IAG said it is 'planning a meaningful return to service' in July. But it conceded the plans were 'highly uncertain and subject to the easing of lockdowns and travel restrictions' globally.

The electric car maker has clocked up a six-month period with an average market capitalisation of $100bn (£81bn), the main requirement for Musk to receive the first payout under a reward scheme.

Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey (pictured) has put pressure on banks to ramp up lending as the central bank predicted the economy would shrink by 30 per cent in the first half of the year.

Liberty Global and Telefonica - parent firms of Virgin Media and O2 respectively - said they had agreed a deal after announcing talks were under way on Monday.

Under chief exec Charles Woodburn, 49, BAE Systems is fighting a very different war against the deadly coronavirus and is turning its formidable engineering expertise to helping the NHS.

From temperature tests on arrival to face masks and two-metre distancing, this is the first glimpse of how manufacturing in Britain could look in the wake of the lockdown.

Chief exec Philip Jansen (pictured) said the company now aims to offer fibre to 4.5m homes and businesses by next March and 20m by the mid to late-2020s, up from a previous target of 15m..

By unhappy coincidence, the anniversary of the most rapturous day in British history, victory in the war against Nazi evil, comes amid a dismal historic message from the Bank of England.

In a sign of the devastating impact the coronavirus pandemic is having on business, the unemployment rate in the world's largest economy hit 14.7 per cent last month.

As a nation in lockdown commemorated VE-Day, here is something to ponder. In the midst of the War, policymakers in Britain and around the world were deep in planning for the peace.

Uber Eats sales jumped 50 per cent as people locked down all over the world turned to restaurant deliveries as a treat at home. The company is trying to save more than £800m this year.

A global oil glut has forced Shell to cut its quarterly dividend by 66 per cent, a move that leaves millions of investors as well as savers in pensions and equity income funds suddenly poorer.

Cutifani will be given the 226,879 shares in 2025 if he and the firm hit targets. The Australian, 61, has led the FTSE 100-listed miner, which bought Sirius Minerals this year, since 2013.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak was forced to rethink the Government's original coronavirus Loan Scheme after thousands of small businesses warned they would go bust without quick access to cash.