Lower profits will heap more pressure on Marks & Spencer chief executive Marc Bolland next week when the retailer joins Vodafone in releasing results.

Marks and Spencer is expected to unveil a slide in annual profits on Tuesday - a week after its new fashion team showed off the ranges they hope will help buck the decline.

Labour leader Ed Miliband will write new rules to tackle corporate tax dodgers if he wins the next election, even if there is no international consensus for action.

Prime Minister David Cameron will lead efforts at next month's G8 summit of world leaders to find ways of preventing multinational firms from exploiting tax loopholes.

Concerns about the financial health of the Co-operative's banking arm are likely to loom large when the food-to-funerals group faces members at its AGM.

The meeting in Manchester will also see the departure of chief executive Peter Marks, who is retiring after more than 40 years in the co-operative movement. He has been at the helm during a period of rapid expansion for the group, including the acquisitions of Somerfield and Britannia Building Society.

Encouraging news about the US economy extended the rally on Wall Street.

A gauge of future economic activity rose more than analysts had expected, as did a measure of consumer confidence, adding to evidence that the US economy is steadily recovering.

Sliding magazine sales and title closures show no sign of improving this year, print distributor and baggage handler John Menzies has warned.

The Edinburgh-based group, which delivers about 5 million newspapers and 2.1 million magazines a day, said weekly titles have been hit particularly hard, with celebrity titles including more! folding in recent months amid squeezed consumer spending.

Concerns about the financial health of the Co-operative's banking arm are likely to loom large when the food-to-funerals group faces members at its AGM.

The meeting in Manchester will also see the departure of chief executive Peter Marks, who is retiring after more than 40 years in the co-operative movement. He has been at the helm during a period of rapid expansion for the group, including the acquisitions of Somerfield and Britannia Building Society.

The Jockey Club's new retail bond romped to its £15 million target as savers flocked to invest in horse racing.

Some 1,500 applicants have invested in the new Racecourse Bond, which was launched three weeks ago to raise funds for a new £45 million grandstand development at the group's flagship Cheltenham Racecourse.

Lloyds Banking Group shares were trading above the Government's break-even price on Friday, fuelling speculation that taxpayers will soon start to recoup the more than £20 billion spent rescuing the lender.

Shares in the 39% state-owned bank rose above the 61.2p level at which the Government said it would break even on its 2008 bailout, and are now at their highest point for two years.

Buoyant banks helped the FTSE 100 Index return to winning ways as shares in state-backed Lloyds Banking Group passed a key threshold.

The blue-chip index was back on track with a rise of 35.3 points to close on Friday at 6723.1, after suffering its first fall in 11 sessions on Thursday.

Supermarket Morrisons is to start its online groceries business by the end of this year after unveiling a tie-up with delivery firm Ocado.

The launch will see the chain use Ocado's recently opened distribution centre in Warwickshire for deliveries through a Morrisons-liveried fleet.