PRESS DIGEST - British business - May 29

The Times

FROM SEATTLE TO PECKHAM -- GATES PILES INTO CARPETRIGHT WITH THREE PERCENT STAKE

Cascade Investment LLC, the personal investment company of Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates, has bought a three percent stake in Carpetright (CATVU.L)>, the laminate flooring and carpet specialist. The price of the purchase is believed to be little more than 15 million pounds and the timing is likely to renew speculation over the immediate future of the business, run by Lord Harris of Peckham. Carpetright shares rose by almost three percent to 781 pence following the news.

ASDA TAKES THE LEAD

Newly-published data from market research consultants TNS shows that Asda (WMT.N) has overtaken Wm Morrison (MRW.L) as the fastest-growing supermarket chain in Britain. The figures show sales at Asda in the four weeks to May 18 were up by 10.7 percent, its first recorded growth of more than 10 percent for almost a year. Morrison followed in second place with an 8.2 percent rise, ahead of rivals Sainsbury's (SBRY.L) and Tesco (TSCO.L).

JARVIS BACK IN BLACK

Rail and plant company Jarvis (JRVS.L) has delivered its best results since 2003, making a profit of 11.1 million pounds in the year to March 31, compared with a 21.7 million pound loss in the previous year. The company had to sell several of its businesses four years ago in order to survive financial difficulties. But, following its best performance in five years, it expressed confidence it was now well placed to benefit from unprecedented spending on the rail network.

The Daily Telegraph

NEW STORES DRAG DOWN LAURA ASHLEY

Clothing and furniture retailer Laura Ashley (ALY.L) has experienced a 7.6 percent fall in like-for-like sales over the first 17 weeks of its current financial year, compared to last year. The company attributed the drop to the uncertain economic climate and the cannibalisation from existing stores. Stripping out the effect of 10 net new store openings, total sales, however, rose by 7.9 percent, while margins improved by just below two percentage points. With a further 8.1 percent rise in mail order and Internet sales, the company expressed confidence in meeting analysts' profit forecasts. Finance director David Cook said: "We are busy opening new stores but it is tough out there."

DAWSON SHRUGS OFF 70 MILLION POUNDS SETBACK

Newspaper and magazine wholesaler Dawson Holdings (DWN.L) has seen a 2.3 percent rise in first-half revenues to 388.7 million pounds. The company also reported an 18 percent increase in pre-tax profits to 5.3 million pounds. Dawson discovered on Wednesday that News International, one of its major publishing clients, had reduced its spend with the company as of July 2009 at an estimated loss of 70 million pounds. However, the company said the loss of contracts would not have a "material impact" on profits, with chief executive Peter Harris describing it as "an opportunity to accelerate the restructuring of our business".

MARKET DOWNTURN FORCES SHAFTESBURY INTO 93.6 MILLION POUNDS FIRST-HALF LOSS DESPITE RISE IN RENTAL VALUES

Shaftesbury (SHB.L), the London West End property specialist, has been hit by the downturn in the UK commercial property market, resulting in pre-tax losses of 93.6 million pounds in the first half of the year. The company saw a 6.3 percent fall in the value of its property portfolio, while net asset value per share was down 11.5 percent to 5.57 pounds. Chief executive Jonathan Lane predicted a further fall in values, despite an increase in retail and leisure spending in the West End.

The Independent

BARCLAYS FULL-YEAR EARNINGS CONSENSUS REVISED DOWN

Barclays (BARC.L) has reduced its calculation of analysts' consensus for 2008 profits by almost eight percent to 5.876 billion pounds. The move follows a previous revised drop of 15 percent two weeks ago, when the bank's finance director Chris Lucas informed analysts that he was comfortable with the previous forecast of 6.356 billion pounds. The revised amount reflects a performance estimate and not a profit guide. Barclays published the consensus figure on its Web site but declined to comment further.

OVERSEAS SALES HELP BURBERRY DEFY THE CRUNCH WITH 25 PERCENT UPLIFT

Luxury fashion group Burberry (BRBY.L) has defied the credit crunch by reporting a 25 percent rise in pre-tax profits to 195.7 million pounds and an 18 percent rise in underlying sales to 995.4 million pounds for the full year. In the Americas, total revenues increased by 26 percent, while retail sales grew by more than 20 percent. Burberry intends to add up to 10 mainline stores in the United States this financial year. Finance director Stacey Cartwright said the increases demonstrated "the strength and breadth of the Burberry brand".

BT PAYS NEW BOSS 50,000 POUNDS MORE THAN VERWAAYEN

Ian Livingston, the new chief executive of BT (BT.L), will be paid 50,000 pounds a year more than his predecessor Ben Verwaayen. Newly-published details of executive pay reveal a 290,000 pound rise in Livingston's annual salary when he moves from his current post as head of retail on June 1. His basic package will be 850,000 pounds, compared with the 800,000 paid to Verwaayen, who held the top job for six years.

The Guardian

QINETIQ HAS 200 MILLION POUND EXPANSION WAR CHEST

The defence technology group QinetiQ (QQ.L) reported a 19 percent rise in revenues to 1.37 billion pounds, with a 20 percent increase in underlying profits to 127 million pounds. The company's chief executive, Graham Love, said it still had a 200 million pound war chest to spend on acquisitions, even after spending 100 million pounds acquiring businesses in the United States and Australia last year. Love said QinetiQ was "heading in the right direction" in its plan to generate 50 percent of its revenues in the United States in the medium term, while it also plans to develop a base in Asia thanks to recent acquisitions made in Australia.

TOPPS TILES CUTS DIVIDEND AFTER PROFITS DROP

Topps Tiles (TPT.L) said on Wednesday rising household fuel and mortgage bills had contributed to a fall in half-year pre-tax profits to 15.8 million pounds from 18.7 million pounds a year earlier. As a result, the company has cut its dividend by 20 percent to three pence a share from 3.75 pence a share a year ago. Since the start of April, the company has seen a much greater fall in like-for-like revenues than in the previous six months. The board said it did not see the environment changing in the short term, but added it had a "proven and resilient business model".

HIGHER COSTS PUSH BAA TO 62 MILLION POUNDS LOSS

BAA FER.MC reported an 8.8 percent increase in revenues to 506 million pounds in the first three months of the year, but exceptional costs, such as the launch of Terminal 5, resulted in a pre-tax loss of 62 million pounds. One analyst said the group had been hurt by factors beyond its control, but added it was not a good time to be posting anything other than very good results. BAA is currently struggling to secure a nine billion pounds debt refinancing to rectify a cash flow imbalance.

Prepared for Reuters by Durrants.