Business news live: FTSE 100 shares higher; River Island announce 33 closures

Earlier we noted Amazon are under investigation from the Groceries adjudicator over late payment of suppliers.

A spokesperson for the company said they will work with the body to ensure transparency and improvements.

“Amazon takes the Groceries Supply Code of Practice incredibly seriously and we will co-operate fully with the adjudicator as he carries out his investigation,” said the statement.

“While we are disappointed with this decision, we welcome the opportunity to further demonstrate our ongoing compliance with this particular section of the code.

“We have already made significant improvements to our grocery supplier experience, including to payment practices, with supplier contacts on this reducing falling year-on-year.

A former research analyst at the investment firm Janus Henderson has been found guilty of insider trading after making around £1m during the Covid lockdown, along with his sister.

Redinel Korfuzi and his sibling Oerta Korfuzi were charged by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) with conspiracy to commit insider dealing and money laundering, between January 2019 and March 2021, and were found guilty at Southwark Crown Court after pleading not guilty.

Mr Korfuzi was accused of using confidential information gathered during his work to place a particular type of complex trade, called Contracts for Difference (CFDs), through accounts owned by his sister and two other co-defendants. Prosecutors alleged that he used lockdown as cover for his operation, keeping it “hidden from the supervising eyes and ears of his colleagues” while working from home.

In this manner, Mr Korfuzi made £963,000 in around six months and was “was at the absolute centre” of matters, said the prosecutor.

High street shop River Island have announced plans to close 33 shops amid a restructuring, with 70 more shops subject to renewed rent arrangements and a creditor agreement.

The company has not said how many job losses are expected but a statement said it would “regret” any enforced departures.

“The well-documented migration of shoppers from the high street to online has left the business with a large portfolio of stores that is no longer aligned to our customers’ needs,” read the statement from CEO Ben Lewis.

“The sharp rise in the cost of doing business over the last few years has only added to the financial burden.

“We have a clear strategy to transform the business to ensure its long-term viability […] but it is only with a restructuring plan that we will be able to see this strategy through and secure River Island’s future as a profitable retail business.

“We regret any job losses as a result of store closures, and we will try to keep these to a minimum.”

Here are the biggest risers and fallers for the FTSE 100 so far today:

• Melrose Industries, 3.9 per cent
• Standard Chartered, 2.8pc
• Entain, 2.44pc
• Vodafone, 2.13pc

• Berkeley Group, -7.8pc
• Marks and Spencer, -1.15pc
• BP, -0.7pc
• Easyjet, -0.69pc

The FTSE 100 is up 0.49 per cent for the day as a whole.

Mastercard settled last month on a £200m case which could see shoppers get up to about £70 each for historical overcharges.

However, that amount may yet change and shoppers will have to wait to see when they can get it.

That’s due to a firm called Innsworth, who helped fund the original case, now bringing another claim to ask for a larger cut of the £200m.

If successful, there will be less for consumers to recoup.

The UK’s grocery watchdog is investigating Amazon UK over potential delays in payments to suppliers.

Selling groceries through the website and through Fresh stores, the adjudicator said “it has reasonable grounds to suspect” Amazon has not been making payments in a timely manner, the FT report.

Here’s how it all rolls in together to impact you:

The price of gold has been rising this year reaching new highs, but it’s down a little over 1 per cent today and has dropped from $3450 on Monday to $3373 today. Not exactly a collapse and it’s still up 3 per cent on the month, but perhaps an indication of declining fear in the markets just now.

Brent Crude Oil remains just above $77 however and that’s a key figure to watch over the coming weeks.

A new partnership between the UK and Bahrain has been signed, which will see £2bn of investment from the Bahrain private sector in industries such as financial services, clean energy and technology.

“This £2bn commitment is yet another major vote of confidence in the UK economy, backing the key growth sectors we’ve identified in our upcoming modern Industrial Strategy,” business minister Jonathan Reynolds said in a statement.

A proposed UK-Gulf Cooperation Council free trade agreement, while a defence cooperation accord was also signed.