Metro Bank to cut hundreds of jobs after £925m rescue deal approved - latest updates

Lidl has said shoppers have begun preparing for Christmas early as the discount retailer reported an 11pc uptick in customers over the past six weeks.

The German discounter said it has been selling two mince pies every second since September, and said that one in five Panettones purchased in the UK this year will be bought from Lidl. 

Kantar data showed that shoppers have switched over £685m of spending to Lidl over the course of the year.

Lidl GB chief executive Ryan McDonnell said: 

It goes without saying that the past year has been challenging for so many people but, despite this, we can see that shoppers have been in the Christmas spirit since as early as September when the first Christmas lines went on sale.

Over the past six weeks alone we’ve seen a massive surge in the number of customers coming through our doors and it’s clear that households are getting prepared well ahead of celebrations.

OPEC+ meets today as the group seeks to resolve a deadlock on oil quotas and considers further production cuts to shore up flagging crude prices.

Group leader Saudi Arabia is pressing fellow alliance members to join it in restraining supplies in order to stave off a renewed oil surplus next year. 

A deeper collective cutback of 1m barrels a day or more will be discussed when ministers from the Opec cartel (the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) and its allies hold their video conference.

Brent crude prices have risen 0.6pc today toward $84 a barrel, while US-produced West Texas Intermediate has climbed 0.5pc above $78.

Germany’s unemployment rate unexpectedly rose to its highest level in two and a half years in a sign of weakness in Europe’s largest economy.

The percentage of jobseekers grew to 5.9pc in November, up from 5.8pc the previous month, according to Germany’s Federal Labour Office.

The number of people out of work increased by 22,000 to 2.7m, slightly above estimates.

Andrea Nahles, the head of Germany’s Federal Labour Office, said: 

The economic slump is leaving its mark.

Employment is now only growing marginally and demand for workers continues to weaken.

France’s economy shrank slightly in the third quarter, official data showed Thursday, while the inflation weighing on consumers eased in November.

Gross domestic product (GDP) in the eurozone’s second-largest economy retreated by 0.1pc in the three months to September, statistics authority INSEE said, returning close to flatline following a strong second-quarter expansion.

INSEE pointed to revitalised household consumption over the three months, counterbalanced by slowing investments and falling exports.

Today’s figure was a revision of an earlier estimate that showed the economy expanding slightly in the third quarter.

Monthly inflation data showed that year-on-year price growth in France slowed to 3.4pc in November.

INSEE pointed to falling inflation for services, energy and consumer goods including food - a sore point among squeezed French households that has had the government scrambling for solutions.

The FTSE 100 has slipped after rising earlier ahead of a meeting of the Opec+ cartel today.

The energy and exporter-heavy FTSE 100 had risen 0.2pc but has since fallen 0.2pc, while the FTSE 250 midcap index has now lost 0.5pc.

Industrial metal miners led gains early on, rising 1.2pc as prices of most base metals and iron ore advanced.

Meanwhile oil and gas edged up 0.7pc as Brent crude prices gained 1pc ahead of expected production cuts by the Opec+ cartel of producers.

The domestically-focused FTSE 250 and the FTSE Small Cap index are on track sharp monthly gains as the pound rallied against the dollar this month, while the blue-chip FTSE 100 was set for marginal gains.

The focus will switch later to the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) report in the United States due later in the day, which is the US Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation.

NatWest Group added as much as 3.3pc after JP Morgan upgraded the bank’s stock to “overweight” from “neutral”.

Dr Martens slumped 23pc after the bootmaker forecast its annual revenue to decline and profit to be below market expectations.

Metro Bank said it was in talks with the City regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority, about the changes planned to its branch opening days and extended store hours.

At present it is open seven days a week.

The cost cutting comes after Metro Bank shareholders on Monday approved a funding package worth £925m to secure its future on Britain’s high streets.

Shareholders gave the green light to a capital fundraise which will see Colombian billionaire Jaime Gilinski Bacal become a majority shareholder in the group with a 53pc stake.

Metro Bank shares have gained 3.6pc in early trading.

Boot maker Dr Marten’s shares have plunged 23pc in early trading after the company said it is set to miss expectations amid another slump in sales.

The chief executive of X, formerly known as Twitter, has defended the social network’s billionaire owner Elon Musk after he told companies joining the growing advertising boycott against the platform to “go f--- yourself”.

Linda Yaccarino said the Tesla and SpaceX boss had given a “candid interview” and said that “enabling an information independence that’s uncomfortable for some people”.

Mr Musk said that he did not want those companies to advertise because they were trying to “blackmail” him with money.

Read on for details and here is Ms Yaccarino’s tweet:

UK markets opened higher ahead of the meeting of the Opec+ group of oil-producing nations today, where they are expected to set out plans to cut global supplies.

The energy-heavy FTSE 100 was up 0.2pc to 7,437.48, while the domestically-focused FTSE 250 gained 0.4pc to 18,458.23.

Pub and restaurant operator Mitchells & Butlers slumped a loss despite increasing revenues as the value of its property portfolio weakened.

The All Bar One and Browns owner said it suffered a pre-tax loss of £13m in the year to September, even as revenues grew 13pc to £2.5bn.

Its property portfolio was written down by £192m to a value of about £4bn, following a decrease of £282m the previous year.

However, it said its cost headwinds would reduce to about £65m over the course of the year despite increases to the National Living Wage as reductions in energy prices and slowing food inflation take effect.

Chief executive Phil Urban said:

We are delighted by the continued strength of our trading performance, and resilience in the face of unprecedented cost headwinds.  

We have achieved good growth in underlying profit, excluding government support, with like-for-like sales growth across all of our brands, and record outperformance against the market. 

Whilst we remain mindful of the pressures that the UK consumer is facing, the strength of our sales growth alongside an abating cost environment gives us confidence for the financial year ahead.

Dr Martens has warned that earnings for the year are set to miss expectations amid another slump in sales.

It came as the boot maker revealed that sales fell by 5pc to £395.8m in the six months to September 30, as it was hampered by particularly challenging trading in the US.

The company said pre-tax profits were down 55pc to £25.8m and would take a hit of about £5m over the year.

It said it has been knocked by warm weather at the start of the autumn/winter season, although trading in Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific improved in recent weeks.

Chief executive officer Kenny Wilson said: “We are undoubtedly facing some more challenging headwinds in the US, but we are continuing to invest in the business, we continue to have faith in our iconic brand, and we continue to believe in the long-term growth potential of the business.”

Lloyds Banking Group is shutting another 45 branches across its network and the Halifax and Bank of Scotland brands amid the ongoing shift away from high street banking.

The group is shutting 22 Halifax branches, 19 Lloyds branches and four in the Bank of Scotland business.

It comes just a week after NatWest Group said it plans to close another 19 branches, mostly in the early part of next year.

The latest closures now bring the total number of high street branches closed across the sector to 623 so far this year.

The UK unemployment rate fell to 3.5pc in the spring, according to initial findings from experimental new official data, suggesting the jobs market is more resilient than previously thought.

The data, which would leave the percentage of jobseekers matching its lowest levels since the 1970s, was quietly released last month in a spreadsheet by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

It contrasts with official estimates which put the unemployment rate at 4.2pc for the second and third quarters of the year.

The ONS has not focused on the figures, which it said are “very early” and “indicative only” results of its new Transformed Labour Force Survey. 

It suggested the unemployment rate was 3.5pc in the three months to May and 3.8pc in the three months to June.

The data could increase pressure on the Bank of England to keep interest rates higher for longer to avoid strong employment levels fuelling inflation.

Metro Bank has said it will cut hundreds of jobs and will review its seven day opening strategy after shareholders approved its £925m rescue deal.

The challenger bank, which employed more than 4,000 people as of 2022, said the plans would help it save £50m a year, an improvement on its previous cost reduction plans, which were expected to save £30m annually.

The company, which has faced criticism for its focus on branches as banks increasingly switch to digital services, said it remains committed to stores and the high street but “it will transition to a more cost-efficient business model, investing in automation for service and back-office operations and improving digital channels, particularly for deposits”. 

Chief executive Daniel Frumkin said: 

The support shown from our investors through this transaction will allow Metro Bank to accelerate its growth plans, with the new capital allowing us to unlock the potential in the business and deliver sustainable profitable returns as we strive to be the number one community bank.

We remain committed to stores and the high street but will transition to a more cost-efficient business model while remaining focussed on customer service. 

These actions alongside other initiatives to reduce costs are expected to deliver savings of up to £50m per year on an annualised basis.

Thanks for joining me. New experimental data from the Office for National Statistics indicates that unemployment may have been as low as 3.5pc in the three months to May.

The data, which statistician said is “very early” and “only indicative”, would put the percentage of jobseekers at the same levels as the lows of the 1970s.

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What happened overnight 

Asian shares were mostly higher ahead of an update on US consumer inflation and a meeting of the Opec+ oil producers in Vienna.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 closed up 0.5pc, or 165.67 points, to end at 33,486.89, while the broader Topix index climbed 0.4pc, or 10.43 points, to 2,374.93.

The Hang Seng in Hong Kong was up 0.2pc at 17,024.43. The Shanghai Composite index added 0.2pc to 3,026.43.

South Korea’s Kospi was flat at 2,520.14. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 advanced 0.4pc to 7,062.90. In Bangkok, the SET fell 0.4pc. India’s Sensex lost 0.3pc and Taiwan’s Taiex edged 0.1pc higher.

The members of OPEC+, whose oil income props up their economies, are due today to try to forge a consensus on production cuts after postponing a meeting originally set for Sunday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average of 30 leading American businesses rose 0.04pc on Thursday to 35,430.42, while broader S&P 500 lost 0.1pc to close at 4,550.58. The Nasdaq Composite index, which heavily features technology companies, dropped 0.2pc to 14,258.49.

The yield on benchmark 10-year US Treasury bonds was down six basis points to 4.278pc, from 4.336pc late on Tuesday.