Barclays deal on cards

Barclays' South African offshoot, Absa Bank, is paying about £800m for the store cards business of one of the country's largest retailers. Absa will take over the existing accounts of Edcon customers and swill provide long-term credit to them.

Edcon runs 1,167 shops in South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Swaziland and Lesotho, ranging from department stores to discount outlets. The deal is expected to be completed later this year.