SSE has warned that consumers should brace themselves for further increases in energy bills, as the London-listed energy group reported a jump in full-year pre-tax profit and bolstered its dividend.

Lloyds Banking Group, the UK's largest retail bank, said it would not need to issue new shares or sell other securities to meet fresh regulatory capital requirements.

The rand gained, snapping its longest losing streak in a year, after inflation outpaced economist estimates in April, damping expectations of a central-bank interest rate cut this year.

Lost tax revenue from money salted away offshore is costing governments more than $150bn (�99bn) a year, Oxfam has found - enough to eliminate extreme poverty across the globe twice over.

Britain's biggest building society posted a 3.4pc rise in pre-tax profits to �210m for the year to April 2013, from �203m last year.