The following is the text of Canada's retail sales report for March as released by Statistics Canada. Retail sales were flat in March, holding at $39.5 billion.

Energy giant SSE today warned of higher bills ahead as it posted a 27.5pc rise in profits to �410m for energy supply business. The company, which raised electricity and gas prices by an average 9pc in October, said: "Unless there is a sustained reduction in ...

The government needs a "clear strategy" to privatise Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland, the International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday, as the two bailed-out banks attempted to reassure the City that they would not need to tap investors ...

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.

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.