PRESS DIGEST - British business - April 12

The Times

TESCO ROLLS OUT TROLLEY WATCH AROUND WORLD

Tesco's (TSCO.L) new unprecedented deal with Dunnhumby, the company behind its loyalty card scheme, will see the supermarket monitor and record the shopping habits of over 60 million customers worldwide. Tesco's partnership with the market research specialist is being rolled out to nine countries where Tesco operates, including South Korea, Thailand and China, but not yet the United States.

RIVALS UPSET AS BA DELAYS LONG-HAUL MOVE TO TERMINAL 5

On Friday, the timetable for the redevelopment of Heathrow was thrown into doubt following a British Airways (BAY.L) and BAA FER.MC announcement that BA's move of its long-haul flights from Terminal 4 to Terminal 5 was being delayed from April 30 to June. Nigel Turner, chief executive of bmi, said: "BA through their mismanagement of the move to Terminal 5 will materially disadvantage all other airlines at Heathrow while BAA, through their perverse regulatory system, will actually benefit financially."

GCAP NOT TO SELL STATIONS

In a dramatic reversal of strategy, GCap GCAP.L has announced that Xfm in Scotland and Manchester are not going to be sold. The owner had previously said it would either sell or close the stations. As part of its plans to create networked shows, Global Radio, which agreed to acquire GCap earlier this month, is understood to be keen to hold on to the stations.

The Daily Telegraph

DSG FACES "JUNK STATUS" DOWNGRADE

Fitch has warned it may downgrade the debt of DSG International (DSGI.L) to "junk status" after the retailer's profit warning last week. DSG was relegated from the FTSE 100 four months ago, and the move by the credit ratings agency highlights the company's dramatic fall from grace. Shares in the retailer closed down 1.25 pence at 58.25 pence on Friday.

MCMANUS AND MAGNIER RAISE STAKE IN M&B

JP McManus and John Magnier, the horse racing tycoons, have raised their stake in Mitchells & Butlers (MAB.L). Elpida Group, the Irish pair's investment vehicle, has increased its stake in M&B from four percent to 5.12 percent. Bain Capital, however, has taken the lead in the race to buy a stake in the pub operator, having made an offer of over 400 million pounds for a 29.9 percent stake in the company.

CHARITY BEGINS WITH RAB CHIEF'S BONUS

Philip Richards, chief executive of RAB Capital (RAB.L), saw his bonus nearly halve last year -- although he still collected 7.7 million pounds. Richards waived a further 3.3 million pounds of his bonus, which the company has donated to charity. Last year, the fund manager, who runs RAB's Special Situations fund, collected a bonus of 14.3 million pounds and waived a further 4.5 million pounds, which RAB donated to charity.

The Independent

51 MILLION POUND PROFIT ON SALE OF BOOSEY & HAWKES.

Boosey & Hawkes is the latest addition to the ABP pension fund's programme of direct investment in assets. Under the 126 million pound deal announced on Friday, the company will be sold to Imagem Music. Talking about the benefits of music publishing, and classical in particular, the managing director of Close Brothers, Richard Madden, said: "It is growing nicely, because of its demographic -- which is people who are wealthier, older and more inclined to listen -- so it is a very attractive proposition and a perfect match with long-term pension liabilities."

JOHN LEWIS REPORTS POOR WAITROSE SALES BUT TVS AND COMPUTERS SURGE

John Lewis [JLP.UL] reported a 10.7 percent decrease in sales to 75.4 million pounds at its supermarket chain Waitrose last week. However, the company said poor weather had boosted sales of computers and televisions. Its department stores reported a two percent increase in sales to 48.5 million pounds for the week to last Saturday, and the company said its performance was "very encouraging".

RM WINS 53 MILLION POUND SCHOOLS DEAL

The London Borough of Newham has picked RM (RM.L), the schools equipment and technology company, as the supplier for Newham Learning Partnership -- a Laing O'Rourke-led consortium in which RM will hold a 15 percent stake. The deal covers 15 schools and a sixth form centre, and is worth an estimated 53 million pounds over 11 years.

The Guardian

GREENPEACE COSTS BRITISH ENERGY ATOMIC PLAN AT 25 BILLION POUNDS

According to Greenpeace, buying British Energy BGY.L and using its sites to build a new generation of nuclear power stations would be an expensive way of achieving very little in the battle against climate change. Shares in BE rocketed last week amid speculation of a bid for the company. British Energy is 35 percent government-owned, and currently controls eight nuclear power stations.

REFUSAL TO DISCOUNT LED TO FALL IN MARKET, SAYS CADBURY

Cadbury Schweppes (CBRY.L) lost ground in the British chocolate market during Easter and Mother's Day, which is one of the busiest trading periods of the year. The company still accounts for almost a third of the market, but on Friday it was revealed the group's share of the market had slipped by 0.2 percentage points. Cadbury Schweppes had also lost 2.7 percentage points during the first half of 2007, and only recovered 0.5 points in the final six months of 2007.

PAIN AND LITTLE GAIN: CAN THE HIGH STREET SURVIVE THE DOWNTURN?

Primark, Peacocks and Theo Fennell (TFL.L), are still prospering as luxury goods retailers and discounters are deemed to be in the best position in the market. Recently, Fennel reported sales up 13 percent in the year to date. Primark, which has 173 stores, reported a four percent rise in like-for-like sales. However, as Chinese inflation is running at nine percent, the purveyors of cheap chic could soon have problems.

Prepared for Reuters by Durrants