Water giant Severn Trent will provide further insight into the impact of the recent drought when it presents annual results on Wednesday.

The impact of the poor spring weather on Halfords and B&Q owner Kingfisher will be revealed next week when the pair publish updates.

Another flare-up in Europe's debt crisis, this time involving a Spanish bank, has pegged back US markets.

Britain risks ending up like Greece if the Government abandons its cuts programme in response to the collapse of the euro, a report by Conservative backbenchers has warned.

More than 10% of shareholder votes have gone against HSBC's pay report at its annual meeting after the banking giant's boss took home £7.5 million in pay and bonuses last year.

A former security chief at Lloyds Banking Group is to be prosecuted over an alleged £2.5 million fraud.

PC World and Currys owner Dixons Retail Group has received the backing of its banks with a new £300 million lending facility.

London's leading index was broadly flat on Friday as fears over Europe's banks were offset by a strong consumer confidence survey on the other side of the Atlantic.

The president of troubled Bankia has tried to calm fears about the future of the bank, saying Spain's second largest mortgage lender will emerge as a solid financial entity after it receives 19 billion euro (£15.2bn) in state aid in the country's biggest ever bank bailout.

Department store John Lewis highlighted the pressure on fashion retailers despite reporting another double-digit rise in sales.

Morgan Stanley, the lead investment bank in Facebook's troubled initial public offering, will compensate retail investors who overpaid when they bought stock in the social network site's flotation, a person familiar with the matter said.

Menswear retailer Moss Bros has hailed its new-look stores as it unveiled plans to revamp a further 10 sites in the wake of another surge in sales.