PRESS DIGEST - British business - March 8 =7

EasyJet (EZJ.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) announced that the proportion of seats sold per flight in February was 84.6 percent, up from 82.8 percent on a like-for-like basis, with passenger numbers up by nearly a quarter to 3.2 million. A spokesman for the carrier said that customer demand was "holding up," in spite of the nation's economic concerns, while cautioning: "The issue for us is the price of oil." ABN Amro analyst Andrew Lobbenberg described the group's performance as "good." He added that while the bank believes that EasyJet's trading "will remain solid," it thinks that "the debate is whether this will continue into the summer."

NO MORE TAKERS FOR DREAM OF BECOMING PROPERTY MILLIONAIRE

Property investment business Inside Track announced on Friday that it will suspend its seminars and axe 40 jobs, owing to "the current difficult market conditions in the UK." Managing director Tony McKay said that the group's seminar company "has seen a fall in the number of people who want to invest in the property market for the first time." The news came as "no real surprise" to John Charcol's Ray Boulger, who pointed out that: "Lenders are tightening criteria at a rapid pace."

Prepared for Reuters by Durrants