PRESS DIGEST - British business - July 11

The Times

YELL CHIEFS FACE INVESTOR REVOLT OVER BIG BONUSES

Investors in Yell (YELL.L), owner of the Yellow Pages, revolted on Thursday over bonus payments to senior management and issued calls for its chief executive and chief operating officer to resign, it has emerged. Senior executives have been awarded bonuses equivalent to 110 percent of their salaries even though the group's share price has tumbled 87 percent in the last year. Concern over generous bonuses was signalled by an "amber-top alert" issued by the Association of British Insurers, whose members control about 20 percent of the stock market. The shareholder organisation PIRC also voiced its opposition.

PRIME MINISTER TO SUPPORT AIRBUS IN FRESH BID FOR U.S. AIR FORCE TANKERS

Prime Minister Gordon Brown is expected to weigh in on the side of Airbus's (EAD.PA) 11,000 British workers in talks with the White House to try and influence the re-tendering of an 18 billion pound Pentagon contract. The Pentagon is seeking fresh bids for the contract to supply mid-air refuelling tankers -- the wings for which would be made at Airbus's factory in Broughton, north Wales. A spokesman for Brown said: "He will support the Airbus bid in whatever way he can." Defence analysts believe political pressure in the United States could see the Pentagon awarding the contract to an American company.

RBS HOPES DASHED AS ZURICH PULLS OUT OF AUCTION

Royal Bank of Scotland's (RBS.L) plans to beef up its balance sheet suffered a setback on Thursday as Zurich Financial (ZURN.VX), the Swiss insurer with extensive UK operations, withdrew from the auction for its insurance arm. The division includes the best-selling Direct Line and Churchill brands and RBS is hoping to raise as much as seven billion pounds from the sale. Zurich said it had decided to pull out following a "detailed review".

The Daily Telegraph

ASHLEY ATTACKS BLACKS MANAGEMENT

Mike Ashley, founder of Sports Direct (SPD.L), has launched a stinging attack on the management of Blacks Leisure (BSLA.L) -- the rival retailer in which he has a 29.4 percent holding. Ashley attacked the group's strategy and dismissed suggestions he was backing the newly appointed chief executive Neil Gillis, who said in an interview earlier this year that he had the "support" of Ashley.

HAYS HEIGHTENS JOB MARKET FEARS

Hays (HAYS.L), the UK's biggest recruitment firm, has added to fears about the impact of the economic slowdown on the job market after it revealed that its UK permanent position business failed to grow in the last quarter for the first time in five years. Global demand for temporary placements had grown faster than permanent positions in the three months to June 30, Hays said. A 20 percent growth in net fees was driven by 35 percent growth in its international business.

PHOTO-ME POSTS NEGATIVE RESULTS

Photo-Me International (PHTM.L) was 21.7 million pounds in the red at the full year after writing down the value of its digital photo booths and taking a 4.3 million pound hit related to the failed sale of the division. "It gives me no pleasure to announce such deeply unsatisfactory results," said Hugo Swire, who took over as chairman earlier this year after a series of boardroom bust-ups. The company's shares, which over the past 12 months have shed 84 percent of their value, fell a further 0.75 pence to 11.75 pence.

The Independent

SHORE CAPITAL BUYS EXECUTIVE JET DESPITE 29 PERCENT DIVE IN PROFITS

The UK stockbroker Shore Capital (SHCA.L) bought a 10.2 million pound Challenger 300 corporate jet in 2007 despite its profits falling 29 percent that year. The plane is listed in the company's annual report, which reveals that Shore used an 8,552,660 pound loan to buy an 80 percent share of the eight-seater aircraft, which is used to ferry senior executives on visits to its operations in Germany and Eastern Europe. It is also for the personal use of company founder and executive chairman Howard Shore, who owns the other 20 percent.

JEWELLERY CHAIN SIGNET MOVES PRIMARY LISTING TO NEW YORK

The jewellery chain Signet (SIG.L), owner of H Samuel and Ernest Jones, is shifting its domicile to Bermuda and its primary listing from London to New York. A new parent company, Signet Jewellers Limited, will be set up for the New York listing, with a secondary listing remaining in London. Almost 50 percent of the company's shareholders are now in the United States, where 70 percent of sales, profits and customers originate.

ABBEY CUTS COST OF FIXED-RATE MORTAGES

Abbey (SAN.MC) has reduced the cost of its fixed-rate mortgage, cutting its two- and three-year deals by up to 0.15 percent from Monday. The reductions were prompted by an easing in swap rates, upon which the deals are based, said Abbey. Other lenders have also made reductions this week as the cost of wholesale funding has eased. The news of Abbey's move came a day after Barclays' (BARC.L) lending arm the Woolwich cut the price of its fixed-rate products by up to 0.3 percent and the rate of its life-time trackers by 0.1 percent.

The Guardian

BT IN TALKS TO BUY RIBBIT

BT (BT.L) is in discussions to buy Ribbit, a Silicon Valley Internet-phone software developer, as it presses ahead with plans to take on the likes of Google and Skype in the online telecoms market. Founded two years ago, the company has pioneered software that enables programmers to tie together fixed-line phones, mobiles and social networking sites into a single online communications hub. BT is understood to have offered as much as 55 million dollars (28 million pounds) for the firm.

CHEAP PROVES CHEERFUL AS PRIMARK AVOIDS WORSE OF SLUMP

Primark's owner Associated British Foods (ABF.L) revealed the budget clothing chain is outperforming its rivals on the high street, even though underlying growth has slowed in recent months. The 179-store chain's third quarter performance had been "resilient" despite weak trading in April and the general economic gloom, ABF said. "Primark cannot be immune from what is going on in the high street, but despite that our sales and growth have held up pretty well," said John Bason, ABF's finance director.

Prepared for Reuters by Durrants