COMPANIES

Shares in BP rose on the FTSE 100 in afternoon trading following the oil giant's announcement that it had agreed to sell its oil and gas production and transportation business in Colombia, the BP Exploration Company (Columbia) (BPXC).

Santander UK has successfully become the sole provider of Aviva life protection products after the two agreed a five year plan to sell insurance products via the company's 1,300 branches and telephone banking network.

Shares in Lloyds Banking Group were down on the FTSE 100 ahead of its half year results, due out tomorrow.

Shares in Xstrata were up on the FTSE 100 after the Swiss mining company said it had doubled its operating profit in the half year ended 30 June.

The changeover in Marks & Spencer's executive team has finally been completed today with the news Ian Dyson is to be replaced by former Wh Smith finance director, Alan Stewart.

Shares in ITV fell on the FTSE 250 in morning trading despite the broadcaster reporting a rise in net advertising revenue of 18 per cent.

The BlackBerry uses proprietary software that encrypts all wireless transmissions from Blackberry devices which the UAE can't break.

Northern Rock has stumbled to a £146m pre-tax loss after savers withdrew their money following a Government guarantee which ended upon the separation of the good bank from the bad loans.

Drax Power, owner of the UK's largest coal plant, co-firing biomass and petcoke, announces EBITDA of £184 million.

Homebuilder Taylor Wimpey has given the housebuilding sector a lift with an £80 million swing to profit after starting off the year well, with growth across the board.

Willie Walsh and Willie Wonka. What do the two have in common? Whilst one is the owner and star of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the other is rather less endowed.

Shares in Hammerson were up in morning trading on the FTSE 100 after the property development company returned to profit in the half year ended 30 June.

Shares in HSBC were up in morning trading on the FTSE 100 after the bank posted a rise in pre-tax profit in the half year ended 30 June.

Shares in HSBC fell yesterday on the FTSE 100 following U.S. GDP results and ahead of first half results due to published in Monday.

AstraZeneca, BAT and Centrica are all featured in Friday's Broker Tips as we look at the companies starting A, B and C - it should be easy!

Electricite de France, EDF has sold its UK networks to a foreign buyer after FTSE 100 company, Scottish and Southern Electricity narrowly lost out to La Ka-Shing and his asian consortium.

Shares in mining firm Anglo American were down on the FTSE 100 after the group posted a rise in pre-tax profit of eight per cent in the half year ended 30 June.

Talk Talk have announced £444 million up 31 pct on last year for the first quarter to June after integrating Tiscali's 1.3-1.4 million customers.

Shares in BAE Systems were up on the FTSE 100 in afternoon trading following the defence company's announcement of its results for the first half ended 30 June.

Amazon has relaunched its Kindle in the US and UK. Read the latest here and see pictures plus full statement from Amazon.

Banco Santander SA - the Spanish owner of Santander UK (Formerly Abbey National), Alliance & Leicester and Bradford & Bingley has said that it will buy 300 former William & Glyn's RBS branches in the UK after posting ten percent rises in profit for the year so far.

BSkyB shares are falling on the FTSE 100 despite ending the financial year strongly. The satellite TV-operator said that fourth quarter revenue exceeded the £5.9 bn expected after a one-time £241 million payment from Electronic Data Systems.

Shares in Rolls-Royce were up in morning trading on the FTSE 100 after the group reported a rise in pre-tax profit of four per cent in the first half of the year to £465 million.

Shares in Royal Dutch Shell were up in morning trading on the FTSE 100 after the group said it had nearly doubled its earnings in the second quarter of the year.

Along with one of the biggest write-downs in British corporate history, BP announced on Tuesday 27 July 2010, that its Chief Executive Officer, Tony Hayward, is to step down on 01 October. He will be replaced as CEO by Executive Director and the company's current head of US operations, Robert Dudley.

Shares in ARM Holdings were up on the FTSE 100 before the close today after the technology company said its second quarter profits had soared by 167 per cent.

Kraft Food Inc is down on the Dow Jones after the US firm revealed 120 senior staff had left their posts following the takeover of Cadbury in the UK.

Shares in BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce were down in afternoon trading on the FTSE 100 after the companies signed a £700 million fighter jet deal and ahead of half year results due tomorrow.

Shares in packaging company Rexam were down on the FTSE 100 in afternoon trading despite the group reporting a rise in pre-tax profit of 22 per cent in the half year ended 30 June.