Tuesday newspaper round-up: Retailers, Woodford, Tesla, Purplebricks

Britain’s retailers are warning of a fresh wave of job losses and store closures after its health check of consumer spending showed the biggest drop in almost a quarter of a century last month. Blaming the political uncertainty that also led to a contraction in manufacturing, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) said sales were down 2.7% – the weakest performance since it began its monthly survey in 1995. – Guardian

The renowned fund manager Neil Woodford has blocked investors from pulling cash from his flagship fund after becoming overwhelmed by customer withdrawals following a series of bad market bets. A statement on the investment manager’s website said dealings in Woodford’s equity income fund were suspended after an “increased level of redemptions”. It said the move intended to protect investors and give Woodford time to sell off investments, including in private companies. - Guardian

Analysts have described Tesla as “structurally unprofitable” as Elon Musk’s electric car company battles with a slowing in demand and increased competition. Analyst firm Sanford C. Bernstein & Co said that Tesla faced high costs, a smaller market for its models than expected and technology that is no longer unique with Mercedes-Benz and BMW set to widen their own electric car offering. – Telegraph

Deutsche Bank must stop "tinkering" with its restructuring plans and decide what businesses it will close, JP Morgan warned as shares in Germany's biggest bank fell to a new record low on Monday. The bank, which has more than 90,000 staff and is one of the City's biggest employers, told weary investors last month that it would make "tough cutbacks" in its investment bank after deciding to walk away from merger talks with rival Commerzbank. – Telegraph

Axel Springer has more than doubled its stake in Purplebricks, the online estate agency that last month sacked its co-founder and chief executive. The Berlin-based media group behind Bild and Die Welt, the German newspapers, and Business Insider, the financial news website, paid £43.7 million to increase its stake in the company from 12.4 per cent to 26.6 per cent, according to stock market filings. – The Times

The United States is laying the groundwork for wide-ranging competition investigations into Facebook, Amazon, Alphabet and Apple over concerns that they wield too much power. Investors wiped $182 billion off the combined market values of the four giant technology companies yesterday as it emerged that the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission had agreed which of the companies each agency would investigate. – The Times