BUSINESS

Shares in British banks were broadly up on the FTSE 100 in morning trading as a batch of good company results helped to give investors a small confidence boost as concerns continue about the state of the economic recovery.

Shares in BHP Billiton were up on the FTSE 100 in morning trading after the mining giant reported a doubling of its profit in the full year ended 30 June.

Shares in Antofagasta were down on the FTSE 100 in afternoon trading despite the miner reporting a near doubling of its net earnings in the half year ended 30 June.

Cairn Energy has found gas in unexplored shores on its first drill after agreeing to sell its assets in western Rajasthan for $9.6 bn to Vedanta Resources earlier this year. The resulting shift in focus from oil in Rajasthan to hydrocarbon off Greenland is hoped to develop new strategies for the company that made $76.1 million net loss in first half of 2009.

Shares in Cairn Energy were down on the FTSE 100 in morning trading after the group posted its results for the first half of the year.

Housebuilder Persimmon sees no double dip in the UK's economy after posting a £101.4 million return to profits up 1000 percent from last year.

Flyglobespan was Scotland's biggest airline. Based in Edinburgh, it entered into administration all too suddenly on 16 December 2009 in rather curious circumstances involving several million pounds owed to it by its receipts-handling company. Flyglobespan's advice notice to customers, posted on its website at the time of its collapse, can be used as a typical and now all too familiar example for the 13 or so travel firms that have gone bust since:

Shares in British banks were down on the FTSE 100 in morning trading as investors continued to fret about the prospects of economic recovery.

Shares in WPP were down on the FTSE 100 in morning trading despite the company reporting a rise in pre-tax profit of 36 per cent in the first half of the year.

Robert Swannell a Citigroup banker, former vice-chairman in Europe, is to take over from Sir Stuart Rose as M&S' next Chairman from next year when Sir Stuart steps down.

Potash (Potassium Carbonate) and phosphate company PotashCorp is fending off a bid from BHP today driving stocks and shares on the FTSE higher after Marius Kloppers, the chief executive of the mining company said that he would take his bid for the fertiliser maker to its shareholders.

Shares in WPP were up on the FTSE 100 in afternoon trading ahead of the advertising firm's half year results, due out tomorrow.

Britain's 'debt boom' is set to follow the credit crisis after banks began to offer families heavily in debt with cheaper and cheaper credit a survey has suggested.

With further revisions of UK Q2 GDP not out until out 23rd August, the Office of National Statistics continues to process emerging indicators with UK output, income and expenditure out this Friday along with Land Registry House Prices.

Interest rates could reach record highs adding up to £900 to the mortgage burden if Policy Exchange thinktank is correct in its thinking.

Shares in British banks were up on the FTSE 100 in morning trading following reports that HSBC is considering buying a majority stake in South African company Nedbank.

Shares in Bovis Homes were up on the FTSE 250 in morning trading after the housebuilder reported a return to profit in the half year ended 30 June.

Dana Petroleum, the company in the midst of a hostile takeover from Korea National Oil Corp (KNOC) will release its interim results on Friday including a full disclosure on its plans to develop North Sea oil assets bought from Suncor recently that will see pressure placed on KNOC to up its bid.

Koreans are going hostile after Dana Petroleum, a British FTSE 250 company that has refused a bid for its oil and gas exploration in the North Sea and Africa.

Shares in Lloyds Banking Group were up on the FTSE 100 in morning trading after it said yesterday that it would be closing down Bank of Scotland (Ireland) Ltd and transferring its assets to Bank of Scotland PLC on 31 December.

Shares in Mitchells & Butlers were down on the FTSE 250 in morning trading after the company announced that it would be selling 333 of its non-core pubs to Stonegate Pub Company Limited for £373 million. Stonegate itself is controlled by TDR Capital LLP.

A-level results, released today, have improved for the 28th year in a row, with one in 12 exams being taken awarded with the new A* grade. The results are likely to fuel speculation that exams are not proving rigorous enough for the students who take them.

Shares in British banks were mixed in morning trading on the FTSE 100 after sharp drops caused by uncertainty about the state of the global recovery.

Newspaper distributor John Menzies has seen a trebling of profits recently after a good first half performance.Revenue for the six months to June 2010 was £924.0 million from £821.3 million and pre-tax profits was up to £20.6 million on aviation growth in its Cargo division.

Shares in Essar were up on the FTSE 100 in morning trading after the company reported a drop in it's a pre-tax profit in the half year period ended 30 June, despite a significant rise in revenue in the period.

Shares in British banks were mixed in morning trading on the FTSE 100 as investors continued to act cautiously in the face of an uncertain global economic recovery.

Shares in Eurasian Natural Resources were down on the FTSE 100 in morning trading after the miner reported a rise in pre-tax profit for the first half of 2010.

Unite the union has said that it will be recommending an improved pay offer from airport operator BAA, following talks yesterday which saw the threat of strike action withdrawn.

The latest Unemployment figures announced on 11 August 2010 did at least look good. The level reduced by 0.2 percent on the quarter to 7.8 percent, the same level as this time last year. Unemployment for the three months to June 2010 fell to 2.46 million, a fall of 49,000, the largest quarterly drop for three years. Mr Chris Grayling, Employment Minister, told the BBC that what he found encouraging was that "there had been one of the biggest jumps for a very long time in employment levels,...