RBS narrows full year loss, BHP Billiton says no settlement on Samarco yet

Stocks to watch

RBS has confirmed it made a £1.98bn loss for 2015, down from a £3.47bn loss the previous year.

The FTSE 100 bank, which warned investors in January it would make a loss, said elevated restructuring costs of £2.93bn made an impact as the bank's repositioning accelerated.

Litigation and conduct costs also increased 62% to £3.57bn including £2.1bn of additional provisions for mortgage backed securities litigation in the US and an extra £600m of provisions relating to PPI.

“We ended the year a simpler, stronger bank with a business anchored squarely in the UK and Ireland, focused on retail and commercial markets,” said chief executive Ross McEwan.

BHP Billiton has denied it has reached a settlement with Brazilian authorities over the Samarco mine disaster.

In early November, a tailings dam burst at the mine in Brazil's Minais Gerais region, killing 19 people in the resulting mudslides.

The FTSE 100 company, which holds a 50% stake in the mine , said on Friday that significant progress has been made in negotiations with the Brazilian authorities.

But the company denied press speculation that it has reached a settlement, saying it is still hopeful one will be reached.

Sales at publisher Pearson declined 2% in underlying terms during the 2015 calendar year, it announced in its preliminary results on Friday, to £4.47bn.

The company cited good growth in Pearson VUE, Connections and Wall Street English in China, but that was more than offset by declines in the US Higher Education, UK Qualifications and South Africa sectors.

Pearson made an adjusted operating profit - also down 2% in underlying terms - though adjusted earnings per share grew 5% to 70.3p, reflecting lower interest and a lower tax rate of 15.5%.

The firm's board proposed a final dividend level with last year, at 34p, taking total dividends for the year to 52p.

In the press

George Osborne is pushing the Group of 20 leading economies to warn about the dangers of the UK leaving the EU, in the latest sign the government is seeking powerful global backing for the case for remaining in the bloc. The chancellor’s drive to include a warning about Brexit in the official G20 finance ministers and central bank governors’ communiqué tomorrow underlines how seriously the government is taking the early stages of the campaign for the June 23 EU referendum, compared with its slower start in the 2014 vote on Scottish independence. – Financial Times

The demand by the FBI that Apple help it break into the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone breaches its constitutional rights under the First and Fifth Amendments by seeking to “conscript and commandeer” its employees, the Silicon Valley company argued in a legal response on Thursday. Apple filed its “motion to vacate” last week’s order by a judge in California a day before Friday’s deadline, as Silicon Valley’s largest companies lined up behind the iPhone maker’s case. – Financial Times

BT has branded Ofcom’s plan strip it of control of the finances of Openreach unnecessary, claiming that there is a “lack of understanding” about how the network division invests £1bn annually. Ofcom has spared BT full structural separation, instead suggesting Openreach should become a wholly owned subsidiary with an independent board that controls budget and strategy. – Telegraph

More than half of small business owners feel they have not been given enough guidance about the implications of leaving or staying in the EU, according to a survey of 4,000 company directors. The Federation of Small Businesses, which conducted the research, said around four in 10 people are on the fence and could be persuaded to vote either way before the referendum in June. – Telegraph

A group representing 60 local authorities has warned that recent closures of large power stations have left Britain heading for power cuts next winter, despite assurances to the contrary from the government. The Industrial Communities Alliance (ICA), an all-party association of councils from across Britain, said National Grid needed to act immediately to fill the supply gap by sending out new contracts for at least 2,500 megawatts (MW) of additional generating capacity – enough to power 2.5m homes. – Guardian

US close

US stocks ended a choppy session in the black on Thursday as oil prices recovered.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 1.3%, the Nasdaq rose 0.9% and the S&P 500 ended 1.2% firmer.

The positive finish was underpinned by a rebound in oil prices, which started off weak but settled higher after Venezuela’s oil minister said in a television interview that his country would meet with Russia, Saudi Arabia and Qatar next month in an effort to stabilise prices.