ROYAL DUTCH SHELL moved to slash costs and ditched a share buyback programme amid a plunging oil price and another torrid day on the stock markets. Brent crude was down nearly 5% at $25.61 a barrel, its lowest level since 2003, reflecting the lack of demand certain to follow a slump in the economy due to coronavirus. The FTSE 100 fell 4%, 217.32 points, to 4973.46 as the crisis entered its fifth week. Stocks in Asia fell overnight and uncertainty remains in US markets after the Senate failed...

THERE was some relief for investors today as markets rallied somewhat, but the latest economic news was predictably bad. Traders are hoping that a $2 trillion US stimulus package will help shares and companies recover, with President Trump saying that the US “was not built to be shut down” and America would soon reopen for business. The UK PMI Composite Index plunged to 37.1, a record low. Services and manufacturing both suffered. Asian markets did best, some rising as much as 6%. In London...

TIDJANE THIAM remained one of the best paid bankers in the world last year, despite a spying scandal that shocked the Swiss financial establishment and led to his departure from Credit Suisse. The former Prudential chief executive was paid £9.2 million, the annual report revealed, down from £10.9 million a year earlier. While his short-term bonus was down 50% to 3.3 million Swiss francs (£2.8 million) he got a long-term incentive award of 3.9 million Swiss francs, in shares, deferred for...

It’s worth remembering where the Royal Mail was in the public perception before the crisis. Unions were truculent, seemingly always on the verge of calling a strike. The service was a source of complaint. Letter and parcel deliveries were getting ever more expensive. And if you bought the shares when they floated in 2013 at 330p, you have seen them more than halve. So the business was far from loved in the City either. Perhaps it was understandable if the view was that Royal Mail would, and...

THE City reacted with anger over the move to halt £8 billion in dividends from banks, as pressure grew for insurers to ditch their own payouts and shares tumbled. Banks bowed to an order from the Bank of England to halt shareholder rewards, with Barclays scrapping a divi worth £1 billion due for payment on Friday. Citigroup said the move is “a disappointment”, while Investec called it “regrettable”. Privately, some went further still, with analysts dismissing the move as “a stunt”. One said:...