PRESS DIGEST - Financial Times - Nov 3

O2 HOLDS ITS BREATH AND PREDICTS FESTIVE SALES OF 200,000 IPHONES

The UK's largest mobile operator O2 predicts that up to 200,000 Apple iPhones will be sold in Britain over the Christmas and New Year. O2 will be the exclusive network for the handset and says that the much-hyped iPhone, which goes on sale in the UK on Friday, will be its fastest-selling handset yet. Chief executive Matthew Key revealed that "hundreds of thousands" of iPhones had been ordered from Apple and said he expected "a couple hundred thousand" to be sold by Apple, O2 and Carphone Warehouse (CPW.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) in the first two months - a conservative estimate according to some analysts.

SIXTH OF HIGHEST EARNERS ARE FROM OVERSEAS

Treasury statistics show that one in six of Britain's highest earners are foreign born. Out of a total of 6,000 people in the highest income bracket, 1,000 "non-domiciled residents" - foreigners living in the UK who at present pay little tax on their overseas income - had taxable income of more than a million pounds in 2005-06, according to data released under the Freedom of Information Act. Robby Hilkowitz at Stonehage, the wealth management group that obtained the figures from the Treasury, warned that the government's plans to impose heavier taxes on non-doms could drive away high flyers, saying that "once there has been a change in attitude the centrality of London could decline very rapidly".

CONSUMERS INSULATED FROM TRUE PETROL PRICE

Consumers have been insulated from surging crude oil prices this autumn by petrol retailers and refiners, who are receiving less per litre of unleaded petrol even though the sterling price of crude oil has leapt by a quarter. According to Catalist, which monitors daily petrol prices, the price of a litre of unleaded has risen by 2.1 pence since July, but the tax on petrol in the same period has risen by more than that. Prices would be nearing 1.10 pounds a litre by now - not 99 pence, the actual figure - if the non-tax price of petrol had kept pace with the rise in the sterling price of crude oil since July.

WEAK DOLLAR MASKS HIGH STREET WOES, SAY RETAILERS

Shopkeepers and retail sector analysts say that the weak dollar is masking problems on the high street as retailers' increased purchasing power compensates for more cautious consumer spending. Increasing volumes of sourcing have been switched to south-east Asia and retailers are benefiting both from the cheaper cost of manufacturing in Asia and the currency gain of paying in dollars bought with sterling. Retail entrepreneur Sir Philip Green said that chief executives were getting away with poor underlying performance with the pound having climbed above two dollars, predicting that a truer picture of retail would emerge should sterling weaken. "If it goes to 1.70 dollars, then we'll see the heroes," he said.

CARILLION SET TO WIN ALFRED MCALPINE