Good morning. Today we're talking about Credit Suisse's colossal outflow, luxury firm reaches a landmark, Prezzo shuts restaurants and a tough finance job market.

Big Stories

Credit Suisse’s colossal outflow

Switzerland’s second largest bank said that clients pulled out $69bn of funds in the first quarter of 2023, laying bare the level of panic that preceded the emergency takeover by rival UBS last month. The coming together of the two biggest Swiss banks is the first time two global systemically important financial institutions have merged since the financial crisis of 2008-09 and it carries significant integration risks for UBS. Credit Suisse said the withdrawals were partly to blame for its poor financial performance this year, with a loss of 1.3bn Swiss francs compared to a 300m Swiss francs profit the year before. The news came as the bank reported what will likely be its final quarterly results before the deal is completed.

Luxury landmark

LVMH has become the first European company to reach a market value of $500bn. The owner of a suite of high-end brands, including Louis Vuitton, Dior and Givenchy, has seen a rally in its share price after it reported a 17% rise in first quarter sales earlier this month, more than double analyst expectations. LVMH’s performance has proven robust despite the cost of living pressures, boosted by resurging demand in China - the world’s second-largest luxury economy - following the end of strict lockdown restrictions. The record high stock price has seen LVMH’s CEO and controlling shareholder Bernard Arnault become the world’s richest person, according to the Forbes billionaires index.

Italian chain slashes outlets

The high street dining chain Prezzo has announced that it will close a third of its UK restaurants putting 810 jobs at risk. The company blamed the cost of living crisis and surging ingredient inflation and energy bills for the decision to close 46 locations. Prezzo said its utility bills had more than doubled in a year, while the price of ingredients such as pizza sauce and spaghetti had risen 28% and 40% respectively. This closure plan comes two years after the group shut 22 restaurants and cut 216 jobs as it struggled to come out of the pandemic.

Tough City market

The number of job hunters in the City of London increased by 19% in the first quarter of 2023 even as the number of open positions fell by almost a third, according to recruiter Morgan McKinley. The news exposes just how tough the current job market is for bankers amid economic uncertainty and the threat of redundancies. The survey comes after a period of turmoil in the sector that saw the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and demise of Credit Suisse. Barclays and Goldman Sachs are among the investment banks that have recently announced they would be cutting roles in response to the gloomy economic outlook.

Elsewhere...

Scandal deepens: The CBI has admitted it failed to “filter out culturally toxic people” from its ranks, leading to “terrible consequences” for women who were sexually harassed.

Cutting back: Disney will sack 4,000 workers this week in a bid to save $5.5bn in costs.

Sliding profits: Profits at Gymshark fell nearly 40% as the online sports retailer wrestled with soaring production costs and squeezed consumer incomes.

Dropped anchor: Fox News presenter Tucker Carlson has split with the US network less than a week after it settled a defamation lawsuit with a voting system firm for nearly $800m.

Valuation hit: Revolut’s position as the UK’s most valuable fintech company is under threat, after a writedown by one of its investors suggested that almost $15bn could be wiped off the value of the firm.

Loop Likes

• How to recognise real friends

• How AI could change hiring as we know it

• Which professions offer the best pay for the least amount of effort?

Number Of The Day

17%

The proportion of first-time buyers opting for a mortgage term longer than 35 years in 2022, more than double the year before.

Not a subscriber? Sign up for free

Want to reach an audience of UK business leaders, young professionals and 1,000+ other smart, ambitious people? Reply to this email and we'll be in touch!