Business news and markets: as it happened, April 25, 2013 16.51 A raft of disappointing earnings have dampened trader sentiment today, with the FTSE 100 closing up just 10.83 points, or 0.2pc, at 6,442.59. The surprisingly positive GDP number fo the UK has had little impact on trading today, according to William Nicholls, a dealer at spread-betting group Capital Spreads: The better than expected GDP figure of 0.3pc for the most recent quarter brought good and bad news. Yes, the UK has avoided the triple-dip recession, and yes, George Osborne has put a temporary gag on his doubters, and yes, it is now slightly cheaper to go on holiday. However, the companies we work for are now going to find it marginally harder to sell their products abroad given the strengthening of Her Majesty's finest. So let's call it a draw and appreciate that we must feel lucky compared to the majority of other European nations, particularly after Spain posted unemployment at 27pc. The result of all this quite rightly translates into no change for the FTSE today. 16.39 Robert Peston, the BBC's business editor, has just posted a blog on why the Treasury is still holding on to the bad bits of RBS: As I understand it, the Treasury looked at a break up of this sort just a couple of years ago. And the primary reason it did not want to go ahead is that it would have to find a way to fund these assets, these loans and investments: the amount owed to RBS in this stagnant pool of assets is matched by funds RBS has borrowed; so the government would have to borrow to cover the written down value of the bad banks' assets. The amount of new gilts it would have had to issue a couple of years ago to set up the bad bank was prohibitively great. But by the end of this year, the funding requirement would be "just" £40bn. However that is a large amount of additional borrowing for a government struggling to reduce its annual deficit, or borrowing needs, from an unsustainably large £120bn. And there might be an unfortunate precedent for the Treasury if it were prepared to borrow £40bn to sanitise RBS, because its critics might question why it won't do the same to finance substantial new infrastructure projects. 16.15 Cyprus is to begin debating the island's €10bn bail-out deal next Tuesday, state TV has reported. The cabinet approved the rescue deal on Wednesday, with government spokesman Christos Stylianides saying "ratification of the loan agreement is expected after April 26." It is not known whether a vote will be held on the same day. However, if MPs reject the proposals, it could throw the whole bail-out into doubt. Akel with 19 seats, and Edek with 5 seats in the 56 seat Cypriot parliament, have voiced anger over the high cost to Cyprus of the deal, which has surged from €7.5bn to €13bn, putting the teetering economy under more pressure. The government needs 29 votes to push the bill through. 15.47 Barclays' remuneration plan has been approved by shareholders, with 94.7pc voting in favour. The bank said 5.3pc voted against the pay plan, but this is well below the 26.9pc who rejected the resolution a year ago. 15.22 Back with Europe, another member of the ECB's executive board - Joerg Asmussen - has been talking on the topic of austerity. He urged governments to push on with budget consolidation and reform. Delaying fiscal consolidation is not an easy way out. If it were, we would have taken it. Delaying fiscal consolidation is no free lunch. It means higher debt levels. And this has real costs in the euro area where public debts are already very high. His comments were sharply at odds with those of David Lipton of the IMF. There is ... a risk that Europe could fall into stagnation, which would have very serious implications for households, companies, banks and other bedrock institutions," IMF First Deputy Managing Director David Lipton told a conference in London. To decisively avoid that dangerous downside, policymakers must act now to strengthen the prospects for growth. 15.15 The Serious Fraud Office has just confirmed that it has launched a criminal investigation into ENRC. We mentioned at 14.59 that there had been inklings this afternoon that an investigation was in the offing. 15.11 Benoit Coeure, a member of the European Central Bank, has been speaking at an event in Brussels today. He claimed that depositors in the eurozone have not pulled out their savings even after some large depositors were forced to take losses in bailing out Cyprus. We don't see stress on deposits, we are not seeing stress on deposits since the Cypriot decisions and resolution. Concerns and worries are legitimate and they have to be addressed, but we are not seeing deposit stress in the euro area. 14.59 Louise Armitstead has more details on those reports we mentioned at 13.30 about shares in Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation falling amid suggestions that the Serious Fraud Office have started an formal investigation into bribery allegations at the miner. The SFO is expected to confirm that it has taken over an internal investigation by the mining giant into allegations made by a whistleblower relating to its operations in Africa and Kazakhstan. Shares dropped more than 3pc this afternoon. The investigation was being led by Mehmet Dalman, the chairman of ENRC who resigned from the company unexpectedly this week. "I believe I have achieved all that I can as chairman of ENRC and it is therefore appropriate to hand over the reins to new leadership," said Mr Dalman on Monday. Since falling earlier this afternoon, ENRC has now bounced back by 1.8pc. 14.39 Trading has kicked-off in the US, and it's been a fairly muted start to the session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is flat and has edged up less than a point, mirroring the FTSE 100, which is down just five points this afternoon. On a seperate note, the experts at Investec have examined the possibility of a rate cut by the ECB next week. Speculation of further easing by the central bank has driven European equity markets higher in recent days, but the Investec economists don't think one is coming just yet: The ECB meets in Bratislava next week with its next monetary policy announcement due at 12.45pm on Thursday (2 May) and President Draghi's press conference following at 1.30pm. We judge that the ECB is on the verge of reducing the main refinancing rate either in May or June, but on balance we suspect that move is more likely to come at the June meeting. Hence, whilst a very close call, we see the ECB maintaining the refi rate at 0.75pc, the deposit rate at zero and the marginal lending rate at 1.5pc. 14.35 Telegraph correspondent Robert Watts has been rounding up some of the political reaction to today's GDP figures. He writes that business secretary (pictured above) Vince Cable has warned of "serious issues" facing the economy - despite the 0.3pc rise in GDP. John Mann, a Labour MP on the House of Commons Treasury Committee, warned that today's figures confirmed "the Japan-isation of the British economy." The MP said told the BBC: In Japan, their economy stagnated - sometimes it went down to below zero, sometimes just above it, but it kept on this very low-growth trend and kept there for 15 years and it's been a disaster for Japan. 14.13 Ambrose Evans-Pritchard reports that Japanese investors are repatriating funds from around the world at an accelerating pace, dashing hopes that stimulus from the Bank of Japan will flood global asset markets with newly-printed money. Ambrose writes: Fresh data from Japan's finance ministry showed that large banks, insurers, and pension funds sold a net $8.7bn in foreign bonds and stocks last week, bringing the total to $35bn over the last six weeks. Analysts had expected the big institutions to start chasing global assets in a revival of the "yen carry trade" after dramatic policy shift by the Bank of Japan's new team under Haruhiko Kuroda, but the fondly-awaited "wall of money" has yet to materialise. Instead, Tokyo's behemoth funds are cashing windfall gains abroad generated by the 20pc slide in the yen since July, rotating the profits into assets at home. "We have looked at the flow data and contrary to high hopes our clients have not bought a single Italian or Spanish bond," said an analyst at one Japanese bank. 14.07 David Lipton, the International Monetary Fund's First Deputy Managing Director, has been speaking in London today. He praised "important steps" taken by eurozone governments to combat the region's long-running crisis. However he added that there are "crucial reforms that Europe still needs to adopt if it is to place the crisis in the rearview mirror and finally return to growth and job creation. That process is by no means assured, but it is attainable. 13.51 On the other side of the Atlantic, Harley-Davidson has posted sharply higher profit. The motorbike maker, which has been revamping its manufacturing operations in recent years to cut costs, posted a first-quarter profit of $224.1m, up from $172m a year ago. The rise in profits came despite a 13pc fall in sales of its motorcycles in the US and Canada. Sales were also lower in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. 13.42 A taster of what's happening over on Gerard Lyons' live webchat with Telegraph readers about the outlook for Britain's economy. Asked if it is still possible we could get stuck in a Japanese-style lost decade, Boris Johnson's chief economic adviser answered: Japan's buble burst in 1989. But from 1990 to 1997 employment in Japan kept rising (like the UK now) and then Japan had its "Lehman's moment" in 1997-98, the economy continued to see land prices fall, finally bottoming about 2006 and for the last two decades Japan has under-performaned. Is it possible we could suffer a bad fate in the UK - Yes, is the answer, but I don't think we will. I think the UK is suffering from a lack of demand, a lack of lending and from a lack of confidence. We - like the US and others - have learnt some from Japan's performance. So I think we will avoid the worst case of Japan. Do join the webchat and put your question to Gerard. 13.37 Data from the other side of the pond shows that the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell last week. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 16,000 to a seasonally adjusted 339,000. Those figures should offer some reassurance that the bottom is not falling out of the labour market despite signs of slower growth. 13.30 Ben Martin writes: Shares in Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation have come under pressure this afternoon following a Bloomberg report that the Serious Fraud Office has opened a formal investigation into allegations of bribery. That has knocked ENRC shares 2pc to the bottom end of the FTSE 100. 13.22 Gerard Lyons, Boris Johnson's chief economic adviser, is taking your questions now in our live webchat. 13.14 George Obsorne has been speaking to Sky News about the GDP figures. He described them as an "encouraging sign" that the economy is healing. But the Chancellor doesn't "for a second pretend it's an easy road ahead." He says we will have to go on making difficult decisions and build an economy that's fit for the future. 12.55 Andy Haldane, the Bank of England's director of financial stability, has been speaking at a summit hosted by The Economist. He has said that forcing banks to hold adequate levels of capital won't hamper their ability to feed credit to the economy. "This argument makes no logical sense whatsover," said Mr Haldane. The only way we will get credit channels working properly is by having a banking system that is adequately capitalised. 12.50 It's almost time for the Telegraph's live webchat with Gerard Lyons, Boris Johnson's chief economic adviser. Is Plan A working? Does a credible Plan B exist? Put your questions to Gerard from 1.15pm. 12.43 Christopher Williams, our technology correspondent, reports that Google's rivals have begun to weigh in on the detail of concessions it has offered to European competition watchdogs, as the search engine aims to avoid costly litigation. The European Commission has published the detail of the proposed deal for the first time. In response to accusations that it abuses its dominance of the general web search market, Google would take measures such as display links to three rival specialised search services close to its own services. But, critics have described the proposals as "half-hearted." 12.33 At 10.56, we promised you a blog from Ambrose Evans-Pritchard on the GDP figures. Here it is. 12.28 On another German note, the country's government has insisted today that it could "look to the future with optimism," despite recent underwhelming economic data. "2013 will be a good year," economy minister Philipp Roesler said, unveiling a slight upgrade in Berlin's growth forecast for the current year to 0.5pc from a previous prognosis of 0.4pc. We have every reason to look to the future with optimism. The German economy is picking up. It is leaving the winter behind it. The labour market is keeping up its momentum, with employment set to rise and unemployment expected to fall," Mr Roesler said. 12.19 Back with the individual movers in the London stock market, Ben Martin writes: The precious metals miners, which took a drubbing last week following the plunge in the gold price, are on buoyant form today. A 1.7pc rise in the spot gold price has helped Randgold Resources advance 4.3pc - the biggest riser on the FTSE 100 - while both Centamin, up 6.8pc, and Petropavlovsk, 5.5pc higher, are among the best-performers on the mid-cap index. Traders also said the miners were benefiting as investors rotated back into the sector from more defensive stocks. 12.13 Let's return to continental Europe for a moment. Angela Merkel (pictured below), Germany's chancellor, has said that the European Central Bank would have to raise interest rates if it were looking at Germany alone. But she added that the bank was in a difficult position because economic performance varies widely across the eurozone. Mrs Merkel said at a banking conference: The ECB is obviously in a difficult position. For Germany it would actually have to raise rates slightly at the moment, but for other countries it would have to do even more for more liquidity to be made available and especially for liquidity to reach corporate financing. If we want to get back to a bearable interest rate level, then we have to get over this internal division of the euro zone. Her unusually outspoken comments come as the central bank appears to be closer to lowering interest rates than at any time since it last cut them in July 2012. It could shave a quarter point off rates next week. 12.04 Although Britain has avoided a technical recession, how do you feel the economy is doing? Do you feel like things are improving, or do you feel like the 2008 recession never ended? Vote in our poll and let us know: Britain may not be in a technical recession, but how do you feel? 11.52 At the Barclays AGM, it sounds like the board are being taken to task by her lady in a 70s. She has told the board that she is giving away her house to a children's charity and challenges them to do the same, according to a tweet from Jill Treanor of The Guardian. 11.45 If you read Jeremy Warner's blog on the GDP figures (mentioned earlier at 10.42), you might also like to watch his views on that surprise economic expansion: 11.39 Back to the Barclays AGM and Sir David Walker says the bank is "on a journey" when it comes to accounting standards: 11.30 Let's round up a bit more reaction to those GDP figures out this morning, which showed a surprise 0.3pc expansion in economic output during the first quarter. What do businesses make of the figures? Colin Stanbridge, chief executive of the London Chamber of Commerce, said: It is welcome news that the UK economy has not fallen back into technical recession, as a return to contraction could have stymied the rising levels of confidence that businesses have been reporting over the last few quarters. However, if it was not clear already, these latest figures highlight the fact that growth prospects across the UK economy remain stagnant at best. With the forthcoming Comprehensive Spending Review it is essential that the Chancellor makes bold choices to re-prioritise spending towards those areas that will drive growth, such as infrastructure investment and international trade. John Cridland, director general of the CBI, commented: What Britain's economy now needs to see in the coming months is a recovery in manufacturing output, helped by a brighter global outlook. The Government must build on these emerging signs of confidence by getting behind Britain's entrepreneurs and exporters. Graham Leach, chief economist at the Institute of Directors, said: The GDP figures are good news just when we needed it. Despite the squeeze on real earnings and the negative impact on confidence from the euro crisis, money supply growth has picked up and with more money sloshing around there has been more growth. We shouldn't get too excited about 0.3 per cent quarterly growth, but it does provide relief from all the doom and gloom. 11.21 Harry Wilson, the Telegraph's banking editor, tweets that Barclays' chief executive (pictured above) has been applauded at the AGM: 11.18 Earlier today (at 09.19), we mentioned that Barclays today published its response to the Salz Review. The bank is also hosting its AGM today and Jill Treanor of the Guardian tweets that a large snake of investors were waiting to get in. Antony Jenkins, Barclays' new chief executive, was also chatting to shareholders before the formal meeting started at 11, she says. Barclays' chairman is addressing the meeting and Jill tweets: 11.06 Here's what Ed Balls MP, Labour's shadow chancellor, had to say about the GDP figures. He claims the figures show the economy is only just back to where it was six months ago: These lacklustre figures show our economy is only just back to where it was six months ago and continue the picture of flatlining we have seen since the last spending review. David Cameron and George Osborne have now given us the slowest recovery for over 100 years. This stagnation in our economy is the reason why people are worse off than when this government came to office. They took an economy that was starting to grow strongly, with falling unemployment and a falling deficit, and delivered stagnation, rising unemployment and £245 billion more borrowing than planned. The government's economic policies have failed and Britain's families and businesses continue to pay the price. 11.00 On the stock market, Ben Martin writes: While shares in Admiral, AstraZeneca and Unilever are all under pressure in the wake of their latest trading updates, British American Tobacco appears to have pleased with its progress report. BATS shares have climbed 2pc this morning - one of the biggest risers on the FTSE 100 - after the company reported a 5pc rise in sales, excluding currency fluctuations, in the first quarter, ahead of market estimates. Analysts at Panmure Gordon reiterated their "buy" recommendation on the stock today: The impressive pricing performance in Q1 demonstrates to us the attraction of BATS. We expect the company to deliver c.11pc adjusted earnings-per-share growth in [the 2013 full-year]. 10.56 And back to GDP. Ambrose Evans-Pritchard has just filed a blog, which will be live very shortly. As a taster, he will say that "fiscal prime-pumping" has averted a triple-dip. And "lest anybody draw the idotic conclusion that Britain's 0.3pc rebound in the first quarter validates 'naked' austerity'," Ambrose will present three points that suggest otherwise... 10.47 Stepping away from GDP for a moment, Jim O'Neil is to step down as chief executive of UKFI, the company which manages the Government's shareholding in Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group. He is moving to a senior role at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Mr O'Neil said: "I wish to thank my colleagues at UKFI as well as everyone at HM Treasury, Lloyds, RBS and UKAR for all of their support. I look forward to watching UKFI's continued progress. It has been a privilege to work on behalf of taxpayers during such a challenging period for the banking sector. 10.42 The Telegraph's Jeremy Warner has written an instant reaction to the surprise rise in GDP. He writes that they show growth is triumphing over fiscal austerity: The Chancellor would have performed a little jig when he learned of the first quarter GDP figures. With output up 0.3 per cent, Labour has been denied the prize of a triple dip recession. What is more, the figures confirm the pattern established over the last year or so of a very slow upward trend in the economy. The emphasis here has to be on the "very," but none the less this is not quite the "flat lining" economy which the shadow Chancellor, Ed Balls, delights in calling it. Services and government spending have once more saved the day, with construction and manufacturing again showing some shrinkage. Not for the first time, the idea that fiscal "austerity" is proving a significant drag on output is contradicted by the raw data. 10.33 And to see just how pronounced sterling's ascent has been this morning, our graphics team has pulled togther this chart showing the pound's performance: 10.26 If you want to read all the details of the ONS release on GDP, you can get it here; and you can watch the announcement here: 10.21 Sterling is now up just over 1pc against the dollar to $1.5435. Commenting on the pound's ascent, Chris Redfern, senior dealer at Moneycorp, said: The markets expected a moderate return to growth, and Sterling had appreciated ahead of the announcement. But such a strong rebound promptly sent it skywards. The Pound leapt to a two-month high against the Dollar and a three-week high against the Euro. Compared to the Eurozone's five straight quarters of declining output, the UK's economy - and Sterling's prospects - are both looking up again. 10.16 Deloitte's chief economist, Ian Stewart, points out though that the outlook for the rest of the year is not very sunny. The UK has dodged a triple dip recession in the first quarter and shown surprisingly positive growth, helped by expansion in the service sector. But these numbers are less impressive and less important than they seem. GDP growth is erratic and first estimates of growth are often prone to large revisions. The big picture is of an economy that has grown by just 0.4% in the last 18 months. The UK economy is past the worst, but the outlook is still for choppy, sluggish growth through the rest of this year. We've rounded up further City reaction to the GDP figures here. 10.10 Continuing the optimistic theme, our economics editor Philip Aldrick tweets: 10.08 Having earlier feared that the GDP figures would prove an anti-climax (see 09.28), Michael Hewson of CMC Markets tweets: 10.06 There's relief all round that these figures are better than hoped, but the rate of economic activity is far lower than before the crisis hit. The ONS points out that before the sharp fall in 2008 and 2009, the economy peaked in the first quarter of 2008. The lowest level was seen in 2009. According to the ONS, GDP in the first quarter of 2013 is estimated to be 2.6pc below the peak in the first three months of 2008. 09.59 This handy chart from the ONS highlights the contribution made from different industries to the overall GDP change. You can see clearly here that the contribution from services is markedly greater: 09.54 Echoing that point about the IMF, Ed Conway of Sky News points out that with the IMF arriving in Britain next week, these figures will help strengthen Osborne's hand: 09.50 Rob Carnell of ING says that following the recent spat with the International Monetary Fund over the UK's austerity plans, George Osborne can allow himself a "moment of smugness" following the much better than expected 0.3pc increase. Rob does add some caveats: Admittedly, these preliminary figures are based on scant real data, and are subject to average revisions of around 0.4%QoQ, so it may turn out that despite this, the UK really is in its third technical recession after all the revisions are through. But hopefully this will not be the case, and we can look forward to some more growth in the quarters ahead as the funding for lending scheme helps re-invigorate both mortgage lending and SME lending. He concludes: This better UK data is "one in the eye" for the IMF, which recently and publically criticised the UK government's deficit reduction approach, and is also a thumb to the nose for the ratings agencies, which have largely blamed the UKs growth performance for recent downgrades. We do not expect this GDP result to let the Bank of England off the hook. There is clearly still work to be done. The economy's recovery path is still very shallow. But this release might delay any further increase in the asset purchase scheme, though we still expect more QE in the months ahead. 09.46 Unlike sterling, the FTSE 100, which is focused to a great extent on the international economy, is little moved by the surprisingly positive UK GDP figure and is down 15 points. However, it's worth noting that the mid-cap FTSE 250, which is considered as having much greater exposure to the domestic economy, is up 50 points, or about 0.4pc, this morning. 09.44 The ONS says that by far the largest contribution to GDP growth came from services, which grew by 0.6pc. Production grew by 0.2pc, largely due to mining and quarrying. That helped offset a fall in construction, which fell by 2.5pc. Commenting on the Arctic spring we've all endured, the ONS said: At this stage the snowfall and cold weather during Q1 2013 appears to have had a limited impact on GDP growth. The strongest evidence was that it reduced retail output in January and March 2013 but boosted demand for electricity and gas in February and March, which increased output in the energy supply industries. 09.38 The pound has shot up on the back of that surprise rise in GDP. Sterling is up 0.9pc to $1.5401 - a two-month high - and against the euro, it's up 0.73pc to €1.1816. 09.36 Here's what George Osborne had to say on Twitter about those figures: 09.34 A little more detail on those GDP figures. The Office for National Statistics has said that Britain's GDP rose 0.3pc in the first quarter of the year. That comes after GDP shrank 0.3pc quarter-on-quarter in late 2012 and beats expectations for a 0.1pc rise. Year-on-year, GDP was 0.6pc higher, the strongest rise since the end of 2011. 09.30 A surprise after all! UK has defied recession, with economy growing 0.3pc in the first quarter. 09.28 Michael Hewson of CMC Markets is clearly not expecting many surprises from the GDP figures: 09.26 Back in London's stock market, traders have driven shares in motor insurer Admiral down 1.6pc after the group disappointed with its first-quarter numbers. Admiral reported a 6pc fall in group revenue, with UK car insurance turnover slipping 9pc. Numis analyst Nick Johnson decided to keep his "reduce" recommendation unchanged this morning: The dividend yield of 6.6pc suggests better value but lack of earnings cover means the yield is completely exposed to earnings setbacks. 09.24 Still with banking, Santander, Spain's biggest bank, has this morning revealed that first-quarter profit fell 26pc as revenues in its home market, Brazil and the UK slipped. Net income fell to €1.21bn from €1.63bn in the same period a year earlier. 09.19 Barclays' Salz Review response, whose front cover is emblazoned with the word 'Integrity', also says that the bank intends to develop "open, transparent, cooperative" relationships with regulators globally. 09.16 Barclays has this morning published its response to the Salz Review. This report into the bank's cultural failings was published earlier this month. At the time, Philip Aldrick wrote: Barclays trashed its reputation by letting an overpaid cadre of investment bankers "lose a sense of proportion and humility" and by refusing to comply with the spirit of financial regulation, a seminal report into the bank's cultural failings has found. Anthony Salz, a corporate lawyer and investment banker who led a review commissioned by the bank in the wake of the Libor rigging scandal last July, said in his report: "We could not avoid concluding that pay contributed significantly to a sense among a few that they were somehow unaffected by the ordinary rules. A few investment bankers seemed to lose a sense of proportion and humility... We concluded that the reputational problems stem in part from the perception that, at least in the UK, some bankers have appeared oblivious to reality. Today, Barclays has said that it will work on compensation, including a "rigorous review of remuneration" for high earners. Its remuneration committee will also consider more simplicity and transparency in LTIP awards. 09.03 Sterling is keeping its head above water ahead of this morning's GDP figures. The pound is marginally higher against the dollar at $1.5290. But if the GDP figures show the economy has contracted, analysts reckon the pound could be vulnerable. Richard Driver, an analyst at Caxton, told Reuters: "There's a surprising confidence in the market that UK GDP will rise by 0.1pc or better. Even if it is a flat reading, I think sterling will take a battering and fall by at least a cent. 08.53 Andrew Oxlade, our personal finance editor, reports this morning that MPs have demanded a ban on 'damaging' pension fees. Andrew writes: Employees saving into company pension schemes are being needlessly hit with "damaging" hidden charges, say MPs. The Work and Pensions Committee said the the fees can wipe huge chunks off a retirement pot and should be banned. Currently employers can pass on the costs of financial advice given to them to help them choose and manage a pension scheme on to their employees, in the form of extra "consultancy" charges. An investigation by Which? last month warned these fees could wipe out 50 per cent of savings in some cases. The consumer group submitted an example to the committee where an initial charge to each scheme member of £600 was made over 12 months followed by an ongoing £60-a-year charge. 08.47 Rescue workers are still searching for survivors in the rubble of the Rana Plaza building (pictured below) in Bangladesh, which collapsed yesterday. Four garment factories occupied six of the building's eight floors, including New Wave Style, which lists retailers such as Primark among its customers. In a statement released on their website, a Primark spokesman said: The company is shocked and deeply saddened by this appalling incident at Savar, near Dhaka, and expresses its condolences to all of those involved. Primark confirms that one of its suppliers occupied the second floor of the eight storey building, which housed several suppliers to the garment industry making clothing for a number of brands. Primark has been engaged for several years with NGOs and other retailers to review the Bangladeshi industry's approach to factory standards. Primark will push for this review to also include building integrity. Meanwhile Primark's ethical trade team is at this moment working to collect information, assess which communities the workers come from, and to provide support where possible. 08.38 Ben Martin, our markets reporter, writes: Suffering the heaviest fall on the FTSE 100 is consumer goods giant Unilever, down 2.3pc. The group posted first-quarter organic sales growth of 4.9pc that came in below analyst expectations of 5.6pc and is weighing on the shares this morning. Here is Oriel Securities take on the numbers: Unilever's Q1 matched the pattern of recent results with strong double digit emerging markets growth (57pc of revenue) and a sluggish performance in mature markets. As expected, unfavourable currency movements prompted reported sales to be flat in the quarter. Another notable blue-chip faller is drugmaker AstraZeneca, which has lost 0.9pc after reporting weak first-quarter numbers of its own (see 7.50). But a riser to watch is Vodafone, 1.2pc better in early trade. Reuters is reporting that Verizon Communications, the British company's partner in the US, is gearing up for a possible bid to buy-out Vodafone's 45pc stake in their joint venture.Traders are not unfamiliar with this story, as rumours and speculation have swirled around a potential deal for months. 08.35 Still on a European note, The Guardian has published today the results of a poll suggesting that public confidence in the European Union has fallen to historically low levels in the six biggest EU countries. The Guardian writes: Figures from Eurobarometer, the EU's polling organisation, analysed by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), a thinktank, show a vertiginous decline in trust in the EU in countries such as Spain, Germany and Italy that are historically very pro-European. The six countries surveyed - Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Spain, and Poland - are the EU's biggest, jointly making up more than two out of three EU citizens or around 350 million of the EU's 500 million population. The findings, published exclusively in the Guardian in Britain and in collaboration with other leading newspapers in the other five countries, represent a nightmare for Europe's leaders, whether in the wealthy north or in the bailout-battered south, suggesting a much bigger crisis of political and democratic legitimacy. The newspaper continues that the most dramatic fall in faith in the EU has occurred in Spain, where the banking and housing market collapse, bailout and unemployment have conspired to produce 72pc "tending not to trust" the EU. 08.24 Back with those Spanish unemployment figures, showing that the jobless rate soared to a record 27.2pc in the first quarter, Jamie McGeever of Reuters tweets this chart of Spanish unemployment going back nearly 40 years, which he rightly calls "depressing":