Santander agrees takeover of embattled UK lender

Shares in Alliance & Leicester soared by 52.8% yesterday as investors hoped for a rival bid to trump an agreed £1.3bn takeover of the company by Abbey's Spanish owner Santander.

Abbey and Alliance & Leicester in £1.26bn merger

Former building societies Abbey and Alliance & Leicester are to be merged under a £1.26 billion deal announced today.

	Ferrovial refinance plans take off
	Ferrovial, the Spanish owner of the UK's major airports including Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen, has finally been given the green light for a refinancing which ought to pave the way for reinvestment.

MPC helpless in face of inflation

The Bank of England can do almost nothing keep a lid on the scourge of inflation in the current economic climate and it will likely remain above 3% until well into 2009, the central bank's Governor Mervyn King warned yesterday in his annual report to parliament.

Bears are beaten back by merger and buy-out deals

Jittery markets across Europe beat back the bears yesterday on merger and acquisition activity and news of the plan to shore up US mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac - but Wall Street could not hold on.

Base rate cut hopes dashed by latest data

Hopes for a cut in interest rates were more or less snuffed out yesterday after it emerged that UK producer prices last month surged at their fastest pace in at least 22 years, raising fears the nation was now hurtling head-long into recession.

ITV buoyant as BSkyB shares are targeted

ITV'S shares soared 12% yesterday after it emerged that executive chairman Michael Grade has been approached by potential investors interested in BSkyB's stake in the broadcaster.

Apocalypse postponed as strange beasts lurch onward

They are known officially as government-sponsored enterprises or GSEs.

Friends to retain Pantheon after £30m sale evaporates

Friends Provident has admitted defeat in its attempt to offload a second of its three up-for-sale businesses.

Government pension plans flawed: Ritchie

The government's flagship policy on saving for old age is unlikely to succeed, one of the pension's industry most respected figures said yesterday as he announced his own retirement.

	Scottish economy shrank at fastest rate on record
	The Scottish private sector is experiencing some of the worst conditions ever recorded by the Royal Bank of Scotland’s purchasing managers’ index

Intersum joins IT crowd in global sectors

With oil and gas firms falling over themselves to boost output to meet demand for hydrocarbons, there has probably not been a better time to be in the oil services business.

The constant companion of success

SLI’s Harry Nimmo still top of Citywire rating and relishing a challenge, writes Ian McConnell

MB Aerospace unit wins Airbus military contract

Lanarkshire-based MB Aerospace has secured a seven-figure contract for work on Europe's latest military transport aircraft.

AC Yule hit by rising material costs

Aberdeen-based glazier AC Yule struggled to turn increased business into profits last year as rising raw material costs ate into its margin.

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