News

Last week's speculation that food giant Nestle was preparing to fork out $20 billion to buy out L'Oriel's biggest shareholder Lilian Bettencourt, seems to have been overwritten today after Bettencourt's family pledged their support for the company.

Dubbed as Europe's richest woman, Bettencourt is set to leave her 31% stake in Paris-based L'Oreal to her daughter despite claims of a family feud.

In all the tales of football's financial turmoil, the criticism that clubs are trying to 'buy success' is often aired. Spanish giants Real Madrid (goal keeper Iker Casillas pictured) provide proof success is not easily purchased. Last night they failed to reach the Champions League quarter finals for the sixth year in a row, when Lyon knocked them out.

Despite splashing hundreds of millions of Euros over the last decade, Real have only won Europe's top competition once, and the Spanish League four times.

Those banks - they're not charities, you know. Just in case you did think they were generous institutions, Moneyfacts, the comparison website, has got in touch to point out that the banks are quietly shaving off savings rates to fund cuts in mortgage costs.

"In order to maintain their balance sheets, providers can either offer competitive mortgage or saving deals, not both", Moneyfacts says.

Stories of strike action haven't escaped the headlines for a while now and it seems they are here to stay a little longer with Network Rail workers voting in favour of industrial action.

The Rail Maritime and Transport (RMT) union revealed that of the 65% of members who voted, 77% were in favour of going on strike.

Even a recession cannot dull the national appetite for beer and fun, as pub chain JD Wetherspoon proved today. The firm announced record first half profits of £36.2m from its estate of more than 700 pubs, up more than 40% on the previous year.

Unveiling its results, Wetherspoon criticised government attempts to reduce drunken behaviour. "The crackdown on pubs may actually exacerbate the problems of binge drinking," said the firm. "It has resulted in more drinking, especially by young people, in the unsupervised environments of parties, streets and parks."

Could public finances be in even worse shape than already suspected? We already know the economy is in a bad way. Biggest peace-time deficit, banks on verge of collapse, triple A rating under threat etc. Now an influential report says the government underestimates the scale of difficulties.

The report claims that additional tax rises or spending cuts of £20bn a year (over and above what we already know about) will be needed within three years. The government is also too optimistic in its economic growth predictions, suggests report author PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The Budget will take place on March 24, in what is expected to be the opening battle in the general election. Today's confirmation of the Budget date suggests the government is planning on May 6 for the election.

The imminent election means this year's Budget is likely to be more of a balancing act than ever. The Labour government is on a rock (the need to prove it is serious about cutting record levels of public borrowing). It is also close to a hard place (the need to woo the electorate and win votes). Neither aim is particularly compatible with the other.

They were at the forefront of musical innovation for decades. The band that pioneered psychedelic music in the 1960s. They introduced us to rock music in the 1970s. They redefined album cover art.

But the era of on-line music is presenting challenges for Pink Floyd, as for many in the industry. The band has taken EMI, its record label since 1967, to court in a dispute over the calculation of royalties for sales over the internet.

Retail sales shot up again during the month of February according to latest figures from the trade group British Retail Consortium (BRC).

UK retail sales values were up 2.2% on a like-for-like basis last month compared to February 2009, when sales had dropped 1.8%. On a total basis, sales rose 4.5% against only 0.1% growth during the same period last year.

Did you think HMRC was a highly-oiled professional machine dedicated to tackling and confronting the world of tax avoidance and its nefarious practitioners?

Some still labour under this idea apparently. The Treasury Select Committee isn't one. It reckons HMRC is badly organized, performs poorly and that its employees suffer from low morale.

Let's face it, the government's reputation for investing in small businesses has never been great.

Today a group of MPs are taking the matter seriously and pointing fingers at the UK government's management of its venture capital funding plans for those small businesses with prospects for growth.

Troubled Eurotunnel Group has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. It endured a firestorm of criticism recently after leaving tens of thousands of passengers stranded at Christmas.

The train operator has now announced net profits of just €1.4m compared to €44m in 2008 - a huge tumble. "The results for the year 2009 are proof of Eurotunnel's resilience in the face of difficulties," says Jacques Gounon, boss of the Eurotunnel Group.

Darling's final budget before the General Election is expected to throw more than a few crumbs to voters.

But can the housing and mortgage markets expect to see any goodies or have they maxed out on State support over the last two years?

Sales of 'enhanced' annuities rose by an astonishing 24% last year. But what on earth is an 'enhanced' annuity, I hear you ask. Want to know the bad news? The only people who qualify for 'enhanced' annuities are those who can prove they are one step closer to the Grim Reaper than the average pensioner.

We're talking smokers, the overweight and those with 'serious medical conditions', here. People one step closer to the executing that funeral plan than the typical pensioner. As euphemisms go, the phrase 'enhanced' annuity should take the biscuit. It makes it sound like you're getting a great deal. What you're actually getting is closer to death.

E.ON have followed close behind British Gas and cut their prices by 6% for domestic customers.

The energy supplier says households will save an average of £42 per year with the move.

The price drop, which is set to come into effect on March 31st, will benefit around 1.9 million residential customers with E.ON claiming that they will be £26 a year better off than those who are with British Gas.