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Bid storm hits Forth Ports as rivals launch takeover

A bid for Forth Ports last night turned hostile after the Scottish ports-to-property company rejected an offer by a consortium that includes Glasgow-based Peel Ports to buy the shares it does not already own in its rival.

BP chief Hayward earns £4m despite big profits plunge

Tony Hayward, the chief executive of BP, saw his 2009 pay packet grow by 41% to more than £4 million – even though the company’s profits plummeted by 45%.

Also in this section

Markets & Economy

Bank makes no change to interest rates and £200bn money supply

The Bank of England yesterday adopted a wait-and-see stance on the UK economy by holding base rates at a record low of 0.5% and maintaining the scale of its boost to money supply at £200 billion.

Aviva sets sights on Europe as earnings rise 3%

Aviva yesterday turned its back on its long-standing ambition to buy out the Prudential’s UK business by insisting that Europe offers the best opportunities for growth.

Balfour Beatty looks ahead as it records £267m in profits

Construction and infrastructure group Balfour Beatty has netted a £21 million profit by selling interests in Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and a sewage project in north east Scotland to funds run by Australian company AMP Capital Investors.

Corporate & SME

£10m bonus for Royal Bank chiefs

The Royal Bank of Scotland is to pay out bonuses worth £10.3m to nine directors, but all in shares with the first tranches to be released in 15 months time.

Farmers to get payout on milk from EU

Scottish dairy farmers are set to receive a 0.2p/litre bonus on all milk produced in the year ended September 30 2009.

Factory gate price inflation hits 4.1% high

Annual UK factory gate price inflation accelerated to a 14-month high of 4.1% in February, official data showed yesterday.

Personal Finance

Are trust deeds to ease pain of debt misused?

As debt swamps the UK, growing numbers of borrowers are being offered “socially acceptable bankruptcy” by a burgeoning debt relief industry with largely unregulated fees.

Motorists can make a saving by driving a hard bargain

As many as one in 25 motorists are planning on picking up a new set of “10-plate” wheels next month, but drivers who fail to haggle on purchase price, to check out financing costs, and to keep a close eye on their insurance, could be throwing money away.

Stocks and Shares with John Phelps

Analysis

Housing market is sending out mixed messages

The UK housing market looks to have suffered a bit of a wobble last month, after a period of steady recovery from those bleak days in the depths of the recession.

Standard bearer for UK banks

Standard Chartered, the UK bank that conducts most of its business in Africa, the Middle East and Asia, has shrugged off the worst of the financial crisis of 2008-09 and has reported a seventh consecutive record annual profit of $3.38 billion (£2.2bn), as stronger wholesale banking earnings offset an increase in provisions for bad loans and other credit risks.