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Santander

Santander UK has been fined £107.8 million for “serious and persistent gaps” in its anti-money laundering controls.

The Financial Conduct Authority said business banking customers were affected by anti-money laundering failures.

It said the bank “failed to properly oversee and manage” these systems, which impacted its oversight of more than 560,000 business customers.

More than £298m passed through the bank before it closed accounts.

Market close

Blue chips ended the week on a flat note ahead of next week’s interest rate meetings in the US and UK. the FTSE 100 closed 4.46 points higher at 7,476.63.

Pendragon Group slumped 29% after Hedin Mobility withdrew a bid approach. Rolls-Royce advanced 2.75% after its role in the next-generation fighter jets was confirmed.

Primark

Trading at Primark has been encouraging, according to Michael McLintock, chair of parent group Associated British Foods.

“We are on track to open 27 new stores this financial year, ten of these opening in the run-up to Christmas, and to date we have opened six new stores, including one today in Angers, France,” he said in an update ahead of the AGM. 

“For the full year, we continue to expect significant growth in sales for the group, and adjusted operating profit and adjusted earnings per share to be lower than the previous financial year.”

He said the group’s outlook for the full year is unchanged. “We continue to expect further significant input cost inflation, but the volatility of our input costs has diminished.”

Berkeley

Housebuilder Berkeley, which is focused on south east England, said trading is robust despite a 2% slip in half year profits to £284.8m.

Rob Perrins, chief executive, said: “These robust results reflect the strength of Berkeley’s uniquely long-term operating model and the enduring appeal of high-quality homes and places within London and the South-East – a region which is the country’s most under-supplied market –  in spite of the uncertain and challenging operating environment.

“Our guidance for the full year is unchanged, as is our shareholder returns policy.

“Sales for the six months have been ahead of the same period last year, demonstrating the resilience of Berkeley’s core markets.  This includes five weeks of trading since the end of September in which the value of underlying sales has been around 25% lower than the previous five months.  Pricing has remained firm throughout.”

Aggreko acquisition

Aggreko, the Scotland-based temporary power supplier, is acquiring a specialist equipment provider in a £122 million recommended cash offer.

Full story here

Recession ‘to last five quarters’

The UK economy will be stuck in recession until 2024 as falling real incomes, rising mortgage costs and a global downturn depress growth, according to the British Chambers of Commerce.

Its projections suggest the economy has entered a five-quarter recession, with growth returning gradually in late 2024.

The BCC expects the economy to contract by 1.3% next year and grow 0.7% in 2024 after a 4.2%expansion this year.

Alex Veitch, director of policy at the BCC, said the chaos of the September mini-budget and autumn statement had a “chilling effect” on confidence.

Global markets

London was expected to follow positive trading in Asia and the US and reverse the FTSE 100 index’s 17.02 points fall to 7,472.17 on Thursday.

The US will publish PPI data at 1330 GMT. US factory gate inflation is expected to cool to 7.4% in November from a year before, compared to 8% in October, according to FXStreet-cited consensus.

On Wall Street the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 0.6%, the S&P 500 was 0.8% higher and the Nasdaq Composite was up 1.1%.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index closed up 1.2%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was up 0.3%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was 2.3%.

Sterling was quoted at $1.2263 early Friday, edging up from $1.2218 at the London equities close.