Hollingsworth Daily Post

• UK banking giant Barclays has reported pre-tax profits of £3.95bn for the first half of 2010 - up 44% on the same period last year.The vast majority of the profits came from the bank's investment banking arm, Barclays Capital, which made £3.4bn.Barclays also said it lent £18bn to UK households and businesses over the six month period.Earlier this week rival HSBC reported first-half profits of £7bn, while Lloyds made £1.6bn.Royal Bank of Scotland will announce its results on Friday.


• Japan's prime minister has suggested the country's economy may need additional stimulus spending.Naoto Kan said that while the economy was still growing, there was concern about the level of unemployment and the health of the global economy.The Japanese economy expanded at an annualised rate of 5% between January and March, but economists say the rate of growth has since slowed.


• Rio Tinto's profits for the January to June period have reached a record first-half high for the firm, fuelled by Chinese demand for its iron ore.The Anglo-Australian group saw its half-year net profits more than triple to $5.8bn (£3.7bn).This compares with $1.6bn for the same six months last year.Earnings from Rio's iron ore operation, the biggest part of its business, more than doubled to $4.1bn, up from $1.9bn a year ago.


• Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation has reported fourth quarter net income of $875m (£551m), against a $203m loss in the same period in 2009.News Corp was helped by the sale of a Bulgarian TV station, cash from a BSkyB legal settlement, and some tax credits.It owns TV stations, film studios, book firms, cable networks and newspapers.


• Air traffic for Ryanair grew by 13% while British Airways flew 2.6% fewer passengers during July when compared with July 2009.Ryanair sold 7.61 million seats last month, smashing a previous record of 6.8 million seats sold in August 2009.BA carried 3.19 million passengers last month, down from 3.21 million in July 2009.BA enjoyed a strike-free July after cabin crew restarted talks about pay and conditions.The long-running dispute has so far cost BA £150m ($240m).


• Shares in Barnes & Noble, the largest US bookstore chain, have jumped 20% after it said late on Tuesday it was considering putting itself up for sale.The chain said it believed its shares were "significantly undervalued".Founder Leonard Riggio said he might make a bid for the struggling retailer, as part of a wider investor group.The chain struggled during the downturn as consumers looked to discount bookstores.

BBC Business News 5th August 2010