The education group will hand back £102m to shareholders - or 13.5p per share - after boss John Fallon insisted the company was in a 'strong financial position'.

Sales at the US lingerie business have suffered as shoppers shy away from the brand, which is embodied by the scantily clad models who perform in its annual show.

The company said it will resume building from April 27. Workers will follow strict social distancing rules - except for work deemed 'essential' that requires them to stand closer together.

The closely-watched Markit/CIPS Flash UK Composite Purchasing Managers' Index fell to a new record low of 12.9 - down precipitously from an already low reading 36 in March.

Pete Redfern, the chief executive of FTSE 100 firm Taylor Wimpey, has broken ranks with rival bosses to push the Government to outline a plan to end lockdown.

With oil prices tumbling, investors will be glued to the first-quarter results due out from BP and Shell on Tuesday and Thursday respectively.

Ashley's chains, which include Sports Direct and House of Fraser, have been forced to close amid the Covid-19 pandemic, and are in arrears to suppliers.

The bank wants to discourage 'non-essential' customer visits after some of its staff complained in a union survey that irate members of the public had spat on them.

Andrew Murphy, John Lewis Partnership's executive director of operations, said the chain could begin reopening some stores as soon as the middle of next month.

Analysts are predicting it will unveil first-quarter sales of around £59 billion. But the retail giant has been accused of abandoning fraud victims by closing a crucial helpline.

The crash in oil prices could put 10 per cent of the sector's 300,000 workforce at risk and reduce new investment in the region to the lowest level since 2000.

Paracelsus Recovery said the rise in requests was mostly from high-flying businessmen who were struggling to adapt to their new style of life.

James Benamor says Amigo was committing 'slow-motion suicide' by making 'irresponsible' loans and failing to alert shareholders to the potential cost of complaints.

Think-tank Reform is calling on Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor (pictured), to let businesses bring back employees on reduced hours but still receive some state support as lockdown is lifted.

Many had been worried BP would have to cut or axe the payout after oil prices began tanking in late January. But the energy giant has raised the amount it will give to shareholders.

Chief exec Steve Rowe (pictured) will still take his full £810,000 salary plus bonuses this year despite asking long-suffering savers and the taxpayer to prop up the ailing business.

Bosses at the company's owner, Barings Asia, are withholding the severance payment. Instead staff have been been told to apply for government handouts.

Dubai-based DP World says P&O needs the emergency cash to avoid collapse during the virus crisis.

Last year Shell was the most generous dividend payer in the UK, handing pension funds and investors £11.6bn.That amounted to 15.5 per cent of all payments made by FTSE 100 firms.

Just days after British Airways warned of 12,000 job cuts, business only expect to recover slowly as workers and consumers stay home and social distancing measures are put in place.

The pandemic could result in 257,000 fewer vehicles rolling off production lines this year, after output plunged by almost 38 per cent last month, an industry report predicted.

Tesla's factory in Fremont, California, has been closed since March 24 as part of a government clampdown, requiring people to stay indoors to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

The bank, led by chief exec Antonio Horta-Osori (pictured), which is the UK's biggest mortgage provider and one of the largest lenders to small businesses, has handed out just.

Sam Fischer spent £479,000 exercising options to buy 28,000 shares at 1709p. He later sold the stock at 2663p, netting £267,000. Diageo's market value has fallen 14 per cent this year.

The fast food business's 1,350 restaurants have been closed since the Government brought in lockdown measures in March due to concerns over staff and customer safety.

RBS, which is changing its name to Natwest later this year, said the loss provisions dragged profit down by almost 50 per cent to £519m in the first three months of 2020.

The Cambridge-based software firm will create a 'strategy' title based on the hugely successful fantasy series that will be released on computer and game consoles such as Xbox and Playstation.

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.

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'.

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.

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.

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.

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 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 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.

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.

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..

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.

Alexis Sanchez agreed to a new Arsenal contract before staging a last minute U-turn, according to the club's former transfer negotiator Dick Law.

JOE BERNSTEIN: With world-class players at a premium, the news that David De Gea is set to sign a new contract at Old Trafford gives Ole Gunnar Solskjaer a massive boost during a difficult period.

A year ago, Alexis Sanchez was the star attraction on Manchester United's tour of the United States. Now, he returns for pre-season training needing to salvage his Old Trafford career.