PRESS DIGEST - British business - Feb 14

The Times

PLAY.COM BEATS AMAZON TO UNRESTRICTED MUSIC

Play.com has beaten Amazon to become the "first big online retailer in Britain" to offer unrestricted music downloads. The group's 'PlayDigital' service offers over a million tracks that are free of the digital rights management technology (DRM) which limits where legitimately downloaded tracks can be played. Other businesses in the UK which offer a service that is free from DRM control include 7digital and eMusic.

B&B PROFITS HALVE AFTER SURPRISE 94 MILLION POUND WRITEDOWN

Shares in Bradford & Bingley(BB.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) have fallen by over 26 per cent to close at 187 pence, after the lender "sparked fresh fears of a painful bank reporting season" on Wednesday. Its shares are now at their lowest since 2000 when the bank floated. The bank said profits fell to 126 million pounds for the year to December 31. Chief Executive Steven Crawshaw said he didn't expect a "huge slowdown", but more of a "quietening" in the British housing market.

BABCOCK TO CAST OFF DEVONPORT JOBS

Babcock International(BAB.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) confirmed on Wednesday that up to 600 dockyard workers are to lose their jobs at Devonport. This year, the amount of submarine programmes it is working on will be halved. The yard had been expecting job losses as early as 2005, when its previous employer, DML, expected a downturn in submarine work. One of the major reasons for this shift is due to the replacement of Trafalgar class boats with the Astute. These boats do not need to be refuelled, and Devonport's future role will be refitting Trident submarines and other naval work it shares with the Babcock dockyards Faslane and Rosyth in Scotland.

The Daily Telegraph

BAE FACES FRESH SAUDI ARMS ROW