Business information stay: FTSE 100 falls however oil shares rise after UK-US commerce deal

Hundreds of jobs are at risk at Poundland after the retailer announced plans to shut 68 shops and two of its UK warehouses following its takeover by investment firm Gordon Brothers.

Last week, Pepco Group sold the discount chain for £1 after it had been hit by a sharp downturn in trading in recent years.

On Tuesday, Poundland said it is seeking court approval for a restructuring plan to shut 68 shops and secure rent reductions on dozens more.

The retailer said it expects to end up with between 650 and 700 stores after the overhaul. It currently runs around 800 stores across the UK and Ireland but stressed Irish shops have not been affected.

Poundland said it also plans to close its frozen and digital distribution site at Darton, South Yorkshire, later this year and another warehouse at Springvale in Bilston, West Midlands, in early 2026.

Around 350 people will be affected by the warehouse closures.

The company has not disclosed how many store workers will be impacted.

Avon is facing growing anger from its legion of sellers after cutting commission rates in a move that some workers say has wiped out more than two-thirds of their income.

Changes to pay structures, which affect thousands of representatives across the UK, have been introduced alongside shifting targets and reduced incentives – leaving many reps feeling misled, and prompting some to walk away from the company altogether.

The cosmetics and homeware brand, known for its historic door-to-door model, has long relied on a network of independent business owner representatives to sell products across the UK. But many of those reps, who are not direct employees of Avon with contracts, now say they’re being forced to leave, unable to make the numbers work.

The Independent has seen internal company emails that appear to erroneously downplay the impact of the changes.

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SoftBank sold a $4.8bn stake in T-Mobile overnight to fund their bet on AI.

The Japanese company offloaded much of its holding of the telecommunications firm at $224 per share, Bloomberg report – an 3 per cent discount of the closing price.

SoftBank are pushing investments in AI and are expected to put close to $40bn into OpenAI, Stargate and others.

The vast majority of FTSE 100 stocks are in the red today, with the overall index showing a 0.5 per cent loss so far. Europe is even further in the red, France and Germany’s indices showing 1-1.2 per cent losses.

“The UK stock market saw broad-based losses, with only six FTSE 100 stocks in positive territory. BP and Shell were among the rare risers as oil prices held firm after a recent rally,” commented Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.

“Middle East tensions are showing no signs of easing back, putting investors on high alert.

“Germany’s Rheinmetall was the biggest faller on the Dax index as investors locked in profits after a strong run for the defence group. With so much uncertainty across financial markets, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see profit taking in other stocks or assets that have done well this year.

“Direct Line is set to disappear from the UK stock market in a fortnight after Aviva cleared most of the hurdles to buy the insurer. The competition watchdog still needs to report back on its investigation into the deal, but Aviva seems confident there won’t be any issues. It will mark the end of an era for a stock that was historically popular with income investors thanks to generous dividends.”

Meanwhile in the US, the Federal Reserve holds it’s latest meeting today and the central bank is also expected to hold, maintaining a 4.25-4.50 per cent rate.

The Bank of Japan has already announced an unchanged rate, while the Swiss National Bank and Norges Bank (Norway) are meeting this week in Europe too.

The European Central Bank reached 2 per cent this month with an eighth cut in a year, with eurozone annual inflation reaching 1.9 per cent in May – below the 2 per cent target.

Anglian Water has revealed stronger profits on the back of price increases for households, as the water supplier also reported another jump in debts over the past year.

The utilities firm, which provides services to seven million people in the east of England, also revealed an increase in pollution incidents over the year.

Anglian revealed on Friday that revenues grew by 7.5% to £1.75 billion for the year to March 31, compared with a year earlier.

The rise was linked to price increases of 8.6% during the year.

Earlier this year, the company said it was putting up bills by a further 19%, to an average of £626 a year, for the 2025/26 financial year from April.

Nationwide members will vote on a proposed new pay package for chief executive Debbie Crosbie next month, which could see her earn up to £6.9m.

Previous guidelines had seen Ms Crosbie able to earn up to £4.8m, making this a 43% potential increase, depending on achieving criteria for bonuses.

Nationwide say the increase is on the back of both rivals upping their pay levels considerably and on the back of Nationwide’s £2.9bn takeover of Virgin Money, which Ms Crosbie successfully led.

Ms Crosbie is the only woman to lead one of the UK’s so-called big six.

Nationwide returned more than £2bn to customers this year following the Virgin Money takeover.

Insurer Aviva has said its £3.7 billion takeover of rival Direct Line is set to complete next month after “constructive” talks with the competition watchdog.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is not due to report back on its so-called phase one investigation on the takeover until July 10 but Aviva said it was “confident” of receiving the all-clear for the deal.

“Following constructive engagement with the CMA, Aviva remains confident of securing unconditional clearance by the phase 1 statutory deadline,” it said.

Aviva is pressing ahead with plans for a court hearing to sanction a July 1 completion of the takeover, which was first announced on December 23 last year.

The combined group will be a significant force in the motor insurance sector, estimated to cover more than a fifth of the total UK market.

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A coalition report by eight green groups has shown that $869bn (£640bn) was handed out as funding by the world’s biggest banks to companies engaged in fossil fuels.

Gas, oil and coal companies reversed the trend which had been a lowering of finance over the previous three years, amid a worsening climate crisis.

JPMorgan Chase lent the most according to the report, at more than $53bn.

The former CEO of 23andMe, the DNA ancestry firm which went bankrupt earlier this year, is set to regain control of the company after an auction.

Through a non-profit organisation, Anne Wojcicki has agreed to buy the firm for $305m (£224m) – beating off a pharmaceutical business which had bid $256m for it.

Ms Wojcicki resigned from her post after failing to take the company private while chief executive.

Around 15 per cent of customers have reportedly requested closure of their account amid fears their genetic data could be sold to an unknown company.