PRESS DIGEST - British business - March 15

The Times

THIRD RESIGNATION AT HUGO BOSS AFTER PERMIRA PUSHES FOR DIVIDEND

Giuseppe Vita, chairman of Hugo Boss's supervisory board, has resigned after a row with Permira, the fashion company's private equity owner. According to a German business magazine, Vita will step down after the company's annual meeting on May 10. Vita's resignation follows those of Bruno Saelzer, chief executive and chairman, and Werner Lackas, a board member, who left after Permira took control of the company last year.

SALES OF AGA OVENS GO OFF THE BOIL

On Friday, Aga (AGA.L)> revealed plans to pump 3.5 million pounds into marketing its ovens and kitchen furniture with a "Love Aga" advertising campaign, after reporting little sales growth last year. Chief executive William McGrath said: "There's no doubt that we're at the premium end of the market and that's less cyclical, but if people move less maybe they'll spend more money on their home."

REGUS GOES FOR GROWTH AS OFFICE SPACE DEMAND RISES

According to Regus (RGU.L), demand for serviced office space remains strong and in a period of rapid expansion the London-listed company raised its pre-tax profit by 54 percent to 119 million pounds last year. Chief executive Mark Dixon said: "Business is in excellent shape. We continue to provide very flexible offices. We're very focused on our strategy of measured growth -- not growth for growth's sake." Regus also plans continued investment to expand the business in emerging markets in Africa and Asia.

The Daily Telegraph

INFORMA CHIEF IN LINE FOR EMAP POSITION

The chief executive of Informa (INF.L), David Gilbertson, is poised to head Emap's EMA.L business publishing arm. Emap Communications was sold to a consortium of Guardian Media Group and private equity firm Apax for 1.2 billion pounds last year. Since the deal, Gilbertson has been in talks with the company's new shareholders about becoming chief executive of Emap's business-to-business arm. According to sources, he has recently informed Informa's board about his decision to leave the company to join Emap.

COMMONS GROUP CALLS FOR BREAK-UP OF BAA

Only hours after the Queen opened Heathrow's 4.3 billion pound Terminal 5, an influential committee of MPs has called for the break-up of BAA (FER.MC). Gwyneth Dunwoody, committee chairman, said: "Ending BAA's common ownership will encourage airports to compete for traffic. The committee firmly believes that the increased competition is possible and could have huge benefits for both airlines and passengers."

PRU PROFITS HIT BY SUB-PRIME COLLAPSE

Prudential (PRU.L) has posted a 47 percent decrease in pre-tax profit after the failure of its life fund to perform as well as last year. The UK insurance giant also wrote off credit risks in the United States after the sub-prime collapse. However, finance director Philip Broadly believes that even if markets worsened in 2008, Pru would have sufficient cash inflows from its international businesses to continue its "progressive" dividend policy.

The Independent

ECONOMIC SLOWDOWN HITS HOME AT JOHN LEWIS WITH FALL IN SALES