Stagecoach earnings driven up by positive results

Public transport champion Brian Souter does not drive a company car, nor does his finance director Martin Griffiths, according to the Stagecoach annual report which was published yesterday.

Royal Bank shares weighed down by Zurich pull-out

Shares in Royal Bank of Scotland plummeted nearly 9% yesterday - weighed down by Zurich Financial's decision to pull out of the multi-billion-pound auction of Direct Line and Churchill.

Finance on unsteady footing

Saturday Interview: As the fall of Northern Rock continues to reverberate, Dan Waters, director of retail policy and themes at the Financial Services Authority, is a witness to the fall-out from fiscal trauma, writes Simon Bain

John Lewis sales slump continues

John Lewis yesterday reported its eighth year-on-year fall in its weekly department store sales in the space of nine weeks.

Surfing the web may prove prudent business strategy

Business Diary: The worldwide web, as well as being full of indescribable amounts of rubbish, is helping to provide some useful insights into the current economic situation.

Housing crash to have wider negative effect

The slump in Britain's housing market - the worst in more than 15 years - will have a massive impact on the broader UK economy, and could cost up to 100,000 jobs, according to an industry body.

US Treasury plans to keep mortgage duo intact amid fears of financial havoc

US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, seeking to calm nervous investors about the financial state of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, said yesterday the government's primary policy focus is to leave the mortgage giants intact.

Braveheart calls on Angle to ‘open books’ or face takeover-proposal collapse

Braveheart Investment, the Scotland-based syndicate of business angels, yesterday fired a warning shot across the bows of takeover target Angle, admonishing the English technology investor that Braveheart would walk away if it remained "unwilling to open its books".

RBS Insurance sale price may suffer after Zurich withdrawal

Royal Bank of Scotland’s efforts to sell its Direct Line and Churchill insurance operations suffered a potentially huge setback last night when Zurich Financial declared it was pulling out.

	Economy stuck between ‘rock and hard place’
	The Bank of England yesterday held UK base rates at 5% – a move which bore out the view of business leaders and economists that it had no other real option amid sharply-slowing growth and rampant inflation.

Lloyds TSB to end bid speculation

Lloyds TSB plans to end talks about a possible takeover of German banks Dresdner or Postbank, it was reported last night.

Barratt home sales collapse by 43%

Barratt Developments yesterday reported a 43% drop in sales of private homes in the first half of the calendar year, but said it has renegotiated loan terms and a £400m credit line to help it cope with the worst housing slump in 15 years.

Bernanke calls for more market regulation

Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, told Congress yesterday that turbulence in financial markets continues unabated and said more regulatory powers are needed.

Aviva reaffirms offshoring agenda

Aviva, the UK’s biggest insurer, has realised £115m by selling its controversial Indian processing operations, but reaffirmed its commitment to offshoring.

F&C Asset crashes as big investor bales out

Shares in for-sale F&C Asset Management plunged 28.2% yesterday after a major investor ditched a fifth of the company’s shares.

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