The 10 biggest business stories on Friday March 11

JD Wetherspoon's profits fall; Apple accuses US regulators of 'smear'

Pub chain JD Wetherspoons' pre-tax profit fell 3.9 per cent to £36m (Rex)

1. Apple has accused the US Justice Department of trying to “smear” the company with “desperate” and “unsubstantiated” claims.

2. The British Chambers of Commerce just cut its economic growth forecast for the UK economy in what it called a “wake-up” call to policymakers.

3. EU antitrust regulators cleared a partnership between French power company EDF and Chinese nuclear firm CGN to build nuclear power plants in Britain, including the controversial project Hinkley Point.

4. Two former traders late last night were handed prison sentences in the US for offences related to Libor fixing. Anthony Allen, Rabobank's former global head of liquidity and finance, and Anthony Conti, a former senior trader on Rabobank's money markets desk, are the first people in the US to face trial and be charged for their roles in manipulating the interbank lending rate.

5. Markets in Asia largely recovered in late trade, with trading volatile in the wake of the European Central Bank's latest stimulus measures.In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index fell 1 per cent at first, but then recovered to end the day up 0.5 per cent at 16,938.87.Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was up 1 per cent at 20,184.18 in afternoon trade, while the Shanghai Composite rose 0.2 per cent to 2,810.31.

6. Old Mutual, FTSE 100 insurance group, has unveiled plans to consciously uncouple into four separate companies, after speculation over the move sent shares soaring on Monday.

7. Deutsche Bank, which runs Europe’s biggest investment bank, cut its bonus pool by 17 per cent at constant exchange rates as co-chief executive officer John Cryan pushes employees to help shoulder the company’s rising legal expenses, Bloomberg reports.

8. Wuhan Iron and Steel, one of China's largest steelmakers, plans to shed up to 50,000 jobs, as the country struggles to reduce overcapacity while growth in the world's second-largest economy slows.

9. Volkswagen plans to cut about 3,000 white-collar jobs in Germany through the end of next year as the carmaker grapples with the costs of its emissions test-rigging scandal, two sources at the carmaker said.

10. Pub chain JD Wetherspoons' pre-tax profit fell 3.9 per cent to £36 million in the 26 weeks ended 24 January, while chairman Tim Martin reiterated his call for the UK to leave the European Union.