Bloomberg UK mortgage approvals slumped to an 18-month low in July and consumer borrowing slowed following the decision to leave the European Union. Banks and mutually owned lenders signed off on 60,912 home loans, the fewest since January 2015, the Bank of England said on Tuesday. Unsecured lending rose by 1.2 billion pounds ($1.6 billion), the least in almost ...

  Bloomberg Volkswagen AG Chief Executive Officer Matthias Mueller is pushing forward with a technological and organizational revamp of Europe’s largest carmaker despite internal opposition and expects his efforts to begin bearing fruit in two to three years. “Some believe this will pass eventually, that Mueller will only be there for five years, then there’s a new boss and when ...

  AFP US industrial snacks giant Mondelez International said Monday it had dropped plans to merge with chocolatier The Hershey Company. The announcement came nearly two months after Hershey, the maker of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and Hershey’s Kisses, rejected a $23 billion takeover offer from Mondelez. “Following additional discussions, and taking into account recent shareholder developments at Hershey, we ...