Marks and Spencer has poached the head of UK car-parts seller Halfords to lead the turnaround of its struggling clothing business, handing one of the industry’s toughest tasks to a fashion novice.

Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) said second-quarter price cuts to clear inventory may exceed last year’s, sending the shares tumbling to a four-year low.

Heineken and Carlsberg, the world’s third- and fourth- largest brewers, yesterday forecast higher profits this year as rising consumption in Vietnam and south-east Asia offsets weaker demand from Russia and Africa.

RSA Insurance chief executive Stephen Hester said that the company will attract bids from other suitors after Zurich Insurance Group abandoned its £5.6bn (€7.74bn) offer for the British insurer.

Inflation remains stubbornly low in several eurozone states, according to data released yesterday which keeps pressure on the ECB to unveil new steps to stoke the moribund economy.

Britain could become the first major economy to tighten monetary policy since the 2008 financial crisis, Bank of England governor Mark Carney has signalled.

US pharmaceutical Perrigo will benefit from around $150m (€113m) in annual tax savings from acquiring Elan, its chief executive said yesterday.

Portugal’s government is teetering on the brink of collapse, sending financial markets around Europe into a tailspin and reigniting concerns about the euro area’s strategy for dealing with its prolonged financial crisis.

GERMANY may be on the brink of recession after the sovereign debt crisis caused the economy to contract in the final quarter of 2011.