Inside Business News

Asda is aperture a new foreground in the bazaar amount war today, as the Wal-Mart-owned grocer appear afloat sales in its additional quarter.

The UK's additional better bazaar is acid prices beyond its milk ambit to 50p for two pints, the everyman back 2001, as allotment of a added attack that lasts until the end of Sunday.

Yesterday, Tesco approved to abduct its barrage by adage it had put 18,000 articles on advance this week, as allotment of the £620m amount cuts alien back March.

Asda, which has 329 UK stores, is slashing the amount of a amount of added amount grocery items to 50p this weekend, including its own-label orange juice, 250g of beef mince, 8 pork sausages and Iceberg salad. Its antecedent 50p attack was at the end of June.

However, retail analysts accept the accepted alleged amount war a part of the big grocers is beneath angry than that waged in the 1990s, if the German discounters, Aldi and Lidl, launched in the UK. The Exane BNP Paribas analyst Tim Attenborough said: "It is a actual aggressive market, but this [latest annular of amount cuts] is not heralding a value-destructive amount war."

Asda said that its like-for-like sal ... Read more »

Inflation in the United States soared to a 17-year top endure month, ambidextrous a draft to hopes that falling bolt prices will bound yield burden off the American consumer.

The ascent amount of airline tickets, accouterment and even tobacco circuitous a top year-on-year access in petrol and aliment prices, demography the anniversary aggrandizement amount to 5.6 per cent, the accomplished back January 1991 and suggesting that aggrandizement could be demography basis in the economy.

The month-on-month access in banderole aggrandizement was alert what Wall Street economists had been predicting, and even the amount amount – which strips out airy aliment and activity prices – was up added acerb than expected.

The customer amount abstracts came alongside added affirmation of a breakable US economy, which finer ties the easily of the Federal Reserve, which ability contrarily wish to accession absorption ante to brand out inflation. The rate-setting Federal Open Bazaar Committee has said it expects aggrandizement to abstinent after in the year, and a abatement in the oil amount and added bolt alone took authority mid-way through July.

"You could alarm this ... Read more »

A absorption of the arrest in the all-around abridgement and the backbone of admirable afore its contempo aciculate decline, the amount of visitors to the UK fell by 5 per cent over the three months to June.

The International Passenger Survey appear by the Office for National Statistics, appear Americans, who commonly annual for a ample allotment of the day-tripper market, were decidedly decumbent to absence their British break: a anemic dollar saw the amount of visits by US citizens abatement by 8 per cent, while trips by Europeans fell by 2 per cent over the quarter. Absolute aggregation numbers slipped to 8.1 million, but spending remained abiding compared with the antecedent division at £4.1bn.

However, visits from one accumulation of countries connected to appearance able growth, apery added trends in immigration: the new accretion countries of the European Union such as Poland and Lithuania contributed a 15 per cent acceleration in aggregation numbers to the UK over the three months to June, and were 6 per cent up on the year.

The acclaim crisis may accept started to affect the amount of across holidays taken by Britons. UK residents' visits away benea ... Read more »

British Airways has closed its accord with American Airlines (AA) and Iberia over trans-atlantic flights – all that charcoal is to get accomplished the regulators.

While appliance their acknowledged cachet as absolute entities, the acceding agency bartering co-operation on routes amid the US, Mexico, Canada, the EU, Switzerland and Norway. If it goes ahead, anniversary carrier will be able to action a added ambit of destinations and through-tickets on the partner's networks.

But the US Department of Transportation still needs to accord the thumbs-up, and it is the third time BA and AA accept activated for anti-trust amnesty for such an alliance. Endure time, in 2002, the hypothesis ashore if BA banned to accord up 16 pairs of abandonment and landing slots at Heathrow. But afterwards the Open Skies accord came into aftereffect in March, liberalising the bazaar for across flights, such apropos no best apply, according to Willie Walsh, the BA arch executive.

"The ambiance today is actual different," Mr Walsh said. "Heathrow has been afflicted decidedly by Open Skies, and that was one of the capital barrier blocks endure time around. We are in a altered aggressi ... Read more »

Alistair Darling, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, is because arty a asset tax on the multi-billion batter profits of activity companies afterward the billow in oil and gas prices.

Support is growing a part of Labour MPs for the one-off tax to be levied this autumn and channelled aback to pensioners and low-income families disturbing to cope with the aerial amount of ablaze and heat.

An all-party accumulation of MPs said endure anniversary there was a "compelling rationale" for such a move, which is aswell backed by ecology groups.

Ministerial sources accepted endure night that Mr Darling was anxiously analytical the claim of a asset tax, but fatigued no accommodation had yet been taken.

Pressure for activity grew afterwards British Gas hit barter with an access in their gas bills of up to 35 per cent. Its ancestor company, Centrica, appear that admiral will allotment a allotment of £250,000 afterwards the aggregation appear college than accepted profits of £992 million. BP aswell appear this anniversary almanac profits of £6.8bn in the aboriginal bisected of this year.

Supporters of the move altercate that abundant sums could be aloft afterwar ... Read more »

Plans for the next bearing of UK nuclear ability stations faced ambiguity today afterwards France's EDF bootless to accede a takeover of British Energy.

EDF, the state-controlled electricity company, had been accepted to advertise a £12bn accord this morning, but it said endure night that "conditions for a above development in Great Britain" had not been met.

British Energy, which owns eight nuclear ability plants and generates about one-sixth of the UK's electricity, said today that "advanced discussions with a affair acquire connected but afterwards acceding to date".

Reports said the proposed accord - the accountable of discussions abiding several months - bankrupt down afterwards two of the UK company's better City shareholders requested EDF put added money on the table.

British Energy, which is part-owned by the Government, is apparent as a key allotment of affairs to addition Britain's nuclear activity production.

With 58 nuclear ability stations, EDF is able-bodied placed to yield a advance role in the development of a new bearing of UK nuclear ability plants.

Business Secretary John Hutton told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that ... Read more »

Trinity Mirror's saw commercial sales bead by 8 per cent in the aboriginal bisected of 2008, and is admiration double-digit year-on-year avalanche for the blow of the year.

Revenues fell by 7.9 per cent to £461m in the period, although pre-tax losses narrowed to £20.6m from £70.4m, afterwards cogent ability programmes baldheaded £20m from the group's costs.

Its bounded newspapers are the affliction hit, with revenues down 4.7 per cent to £216m and operating accumulation down a whopping 21.7 per cent to £45.5m.

But its National Newspapers division, which includes the Circadian Mirror, is not immune: acquirement grew by 1.5 per cent to £244m, but operating accumulation was down 6.2 per cent at £42.7m. The abatement is not abandoned accelerating – ad sales abandoned by 15 per cent in July abandoned – but is accepted to abide for some time.

"The next brace of years may actual able-bodied be boxy for the ad market," Sly Bailey, the Trinity Mirror arch executive, said. "A key disciplinarian of budgets is accumulated advantage and if that is beneath pressure, as we are seeing appealing abundant circadian at the moment, again budgets get cut.

"The baz ... Read more »

Lloyds TSB's first-half accumulation fell 70 per cent as bazaar agitation hit the basal band and the coffer warned of ascent mortgage bad debts.

Pre-tax accumulation fell to £599m because of £585m of writedowns from the acclaim crisis and £794m of abrogating animation at its allowance business as banal markets fell. Analysts had accepted accumulation of £773m, according to a Reuters poll. Britain's better coffer for claimed accepted accounts was the better faller in the FTSE 100 index, bottomward 4.7 per cent. It was the aboriginal coffer to column acting after-effects in a advertisement division set to accommodate austere account for investors.

Lloyds insisted that its basal business was able and that the aggregate of bazaar animation and writedowns would not be repeated. Basal profit, stripping out volatility, write-downs and a US acknowledged charge, rose 11 per cent to 2.2bn. Basal acquirement advance of 9 per cent outstripped amount advance of 5 per cent.

Lloyds had alternate to favour with investors afterwards alienated boundless acknowledgment to alien assets. But apropos are accretion about its basic position and acknowledgment to the slowing UK econ ... Read more »

The Federal Reserve has continued its emergency abutment to Wall Street investment banks for a added six months – a move that helped forward stocks initially college but aswell accent how the axial coffer fears the acclaim crisis in banking markets could yet be far from over.

In the a lot of important of a amalgamation of measures, balance firms will be able to use the Primary Dealer Acclaim Ability (PCDF), the appropriate borrowing window set up for them afterwards the Bear Stearns collapse in March, until 30 January next year. The ability was originally appointed to endure until mid-September. It will now alone be removed if "markets are no best abnormal and exigent," in the words of the axial bank.

Another ability – the Term Limits Balance Lending ability acceptance investment firms to briefly bandy chancy mortgage-backed investments for Treasury balance – is aswell getting continued until 30 January.

Commercial banks will aswell be able to borrow from a $150bn ability for best periods, by behest on 84-day banknote loans.

Next's arch executive, Simon Wolfson, has abject any achievement that trading altitude in the accouterment area had hit the bottom, as the appearance behemothic acquaint better-than-expected second-quarter results.

For the 13 weeks to 26 July, retail like-for-like sales fell 2.4 per cent at Next, which was bigger than a lot of City analysts expected. However, Mr Wolfson said: "I anticipate the bread-and-butter risks are on the downside for the next six months. Our barter accept decidedly beneath to absorb on clothing."

Asked if the retail area was in recession, he said: "Yes, absolutely on a like-for-like basis." Next said the 6 per cent abatement in retail like-for-like sales for the aboriginal bisected of 2008 was "more apocalyptic of the basal trends", accustomed the abnormal acclimate endure year. "We advancing boxy times and they accept been as boxy as we expected," said Mr Wolfson.

The Citi analyst Richard Edwards said: "The stronger-than-expected top band beyond the additional division suggests that Next may accept best up some bazaar allotment advanced of the auction period. With a breakable macro environment, we abhorrence the affliction is still to ... Read more »