U.K. & Ireland

Financial News

British Air Extends Capacity Cuts, Grounds Planes, Delays A380 Deliveries British Airways Plc, Europe’s third- largest airline, will extend capacity reductions, ground planes and delay deliveries of superjumbo aircraft as demand for air travel shows scant signs of rebounding amid the recession.

U.K. Funds Gain in First Half; M&G's Dobell Leads on Tullow, Invensys Bets U.K. stock mutual funds returned 3.2 percent on average in the first half, with M&G Group Plc’s 3.2 billion-pound ($5.2 billion) Recovery Fund leading the largest funds after it bet on Tullow Oil Plc and Invensys Plc.

FTSE 100 Index Closes Little Changed; Barclays, HSBC, Reed Elsevier Rally The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index closed little changed as a rally in banks and media companies offset a sell-off in raw material and energy producers.

HSBC's Swiss Private Bank Asked Clients to Surrender Secrecy in September HSBC Holdings Plc’s Swiss private bank last September asked clients and independent money managers to surrender their right to banking secrecy protection in order to keep securities invested in 28 countries.

Four Seasons Healthcare Lenders Have Until Next Week for Debt-Equity Swap Four Seasons HealthCare Ltd.’s lenders have until the beginning of next week to agree to swap about 1.4 billion pounds ($2.3 billion) of debt for equity, or the nursing-home operator may be sold, according to a spokesman for the company.

Halabi Companies Fail to Fix $1.9 Billion Commercial Mortgage Bond Default Investor Simon Halabi’s real-estate companies failed to remedy a default on 1.15 billion pounds ($1.9 billion) of commercial mortgage bonds.

Anglo Would Perform Better Under Xstrata, Former Executive Boustred Says Anglo American Plc, which rejected a 22.5 billion-pound ($36.8 billion) merger proposal from Xstrata Plc, would perform “overwhelmingly better” under Xstrata management, former Anglo Deputy Chairman Graham Boustred said.

Services Expanded for Second Month in June in Sign U.K. Economy Recovering U.K. service industries from law firms to consultancies grew in June for a second month, suggesting Britain may be starting to emerge from recession.

General News

Jackson Promoter AEG Seeks Ways to Recoup $30 Million in Concert Expenses The promoter bankrolling Michael Jackson’s concerts in London said it may be owed as much as $30 million by the pop singer’s estate for outlays tied to the comeback shows.

Iran Will Put on Trial Some British Embassy Employees for Inciting Unrest Some Iranian employees of the U.K. Embassy in Tehran will be put on trial over allegations they helped instigate post-election unrest, a senior cleric told worshippers in the capital during Friday prayers.

Cardinal Newman Moves Step Closer to Sainthood as Pope Attributes Miracle Cardinal John Henry Newman, one of Britain’s most famous converts to Catholicism, was moved a step closer to sainthood by Pope Benedict XVI, the Vatican said.

FTSE 100 Index 

Futures 

U.K. Bonds 

Top U.K. Funds 

European Currencies