Need to know

Economic growth will slow sharply this year but there is only limited room for further interest rate cuts, the Bank of England said, predicting that annual growth would slow to below 2 per cent, down from about 3 per cent in 2007.

Eurozone industrial output fell by 0.2 per cent month-on-month in December, the second monthly fall in a row, resulting in a year-on-year gain of 1.3 per cent.

US interest rates The likelihood of another emergency cut in US interest rates decreased as new data showed that American retail sales had risen by 0.3 per cent in January.

Banking & finance

Bradford & Bingley, the buy-to-let mortgage provider, reported a 49 per cent fall in full-year pretax profits. Shares in the lender slumped by more than 23 per cent to close at 187p, the lowest since the bank floated in 2000, on the back of unexpectedly large write-downs and a jump in mortgage arrears. lion) bailout of IKB, the corporate lender and another casualty of the global credit crisis.

Standard Chartered is understood to have made a renewed attempt at saving Whistlejacket, its £3.7 billion off-balance sheet vehicle, after it went into receivership this week. It is believed the bank made two rescue proposals to Deloitte, the vehicle’s receiver.

Mortgage fraud The Financial Services Authority has investigated more than 200 cases of suspected mortgage fraud thanks to referrals from banks and building societies concerned about the activities of mortgage brokers. I

Morgan Stanley, the US investment bank, said it will cut 1,000 jobs from its mortgage business and close its UK sub-prime home loan division, which is based in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire. Separately, David Law, head of Morgan Stanley’s financial sponsors group outside the United States, has taken over as chairman of its investment banking in the Middle East and Africa.

IKB The German Government said it had reached an agreement with banks on a €1.5 billion (£1.1 billion) lion) bailout of IKB, the corporate lender and another casualty of the global credit crisis.

Financial Services Authority William Radclyffe, an unauthorised stockbroker who stole more than £350,000 from family and friends, has been jailed for 15 months after a criminal prosecution by the Financial Services Authority. He pleaded guilty to 15 offences, including theft.

Construction & property

Multiplex Jayne McGivern, UK chief executive of Multiplex, the builder of Wembley Stadium, has resigned, throwing into doubt the company’s commitment to expanding its development pipeline in Britain. James Tuckey, its part-time nonexecutive UK chairman, will return to the full-time role he relinquished last year.

Liberty International, the FTSE 100 shopping centre developer, has written down the value of its Lakeside mall in Thurrock by 4.4 per cent to £1.25 billion, part of a 4.3 per cent annual fall in the value of its UK regional shopping centres.

GIC Real Estate, the property investment arm of the Government of Singapore, has paid €131.6 million (£97.9 million) for a 40 per cent stake in Iso Omena, the Hel-sinki shopping centre and Finland’s fifth-largest, from Citycon, the Scandinavian shopping mall developer. Jones Lang LaSalle advised GIC.

Consumer goods

Reckitt Benckiser, the Anglo-Dutch household products group, said strong growth from Nurofen and Strepsils, the recently acquired brands, had helped it to deliver a 15 per cent rise in full-year profits.

The British Beer & Pub Association is calling on the Treasury to freeze duty on beer in the forthcoming Budget, claiming that past increases have helped to reduce the tax take by pushing up the price of a pint.

Coca-Cola, the US soft drinks group, reported fourth-quarter results above analysts’ forecasts, with profits rising by 79 per cent to $1.2 billion (£614 million). I

Engineering

Delphi Corporation, the US car parts supplier, said that its plan to leave bankruptcy by the end of March was in doubt as it struggled to raise $6.1 billion (£3.1 billion).

Rolls-Royce, the engine maker, has entered into an agreement with Synergy Aerospace, a group of three South American airlines, for Trent XWB engines to power its next-generation wide body fleet of A350 XWB aircraft. The business has a potential value of $880 million at engine list prices.

Peugeot Citro?n, the French car-maker, reported a nearly fivefold rise in full-year profits and announced plans to return 25 per cent of future profits to shareholders in dividends.

Renold, the engineering group, said its third-quarter trading performance was in line with expectations as sales and orders improved year-on-year. Its order book had continued to strengthen, particularly its US business.

Babcock International, the engineering and services group, confirmed that the number of submarine programmes that it was working on would be halved this year, resulting in the loss of up to 600 dockyard jobs at Devonport, Plymouth’s biggest employer.

Health

Sanofi-Aventis, the French pharmaceuticals group, said that Sanofi Pasteur, its vaccines unit, has filed for European Union approval to sell the first flu vaccine delivered by an intradermal micro-injection system.

Industrials

ArcelorMittal, the world’s biggest steel group, predicted resilience in the steel industry this year as it reported a 30 per cent increase in full-year profits to $10.4 billion (£5.3 billion).

Leisure

Holiday InnTwo Express by Holiday Inn hotels have changed hands for a total of almost £18 million. In separate deals, both handled by Christie & Co, LRG Acquisition has sold the leasehold Express at Strathclyde Park to Geminex Hotels & Leisure, while the Express in Stevenage has been sold to Morethanhotels.

Holidaybreak, the specialist travel group, reported robust trading in the period since October 1 and said its education division expected to benefit from government moves to give schoolchildren access to “high quality culture”. .

Media

UTV Mediahas bought Tibus, the Irish web developer, for £5 million from Anderson Spratt, the recruitment advertising company.

News Corporation, parent company of The Times, is in talks with Yahoo!, the US internet search engine, about merging their online assets to fend off a $45 billion (£23 billion) hostile takeover of Yahoo! by Microsoft, the software giant.

Natural resources

Rio Tinto, the mining group, indicated that it could look for acquisitions later this year, with Anglo American heading many shareholders’ wish-list. A bid by Rio for another miner would almost certainly scupper BHP Billiton’s hopes for a £75 billion takeover of its rival. Separately, Rio reported a 2 per cent fall in net profit to $7.3 billion (£3.7 billion).

The International Energy Agency, the energy adviser to 27 oil-consuming countries, has cut its forecast for growth in world oil demand this year because of the US economic slowdown.

Retailing

Marks & Spencer’s staff bonuses are understood to be in doubt following continuing fears that the chain’s recovery has stalled. The retailer said it was too early to say whether bonuses would be paid this year. Any announcement will be made on May 20 at final results.

Theo Fennell, the jewellery designer, is to stand down from the upmarket AIM-listed jewellery retailer which he founded 26 years ago. He will relinquish his post as creative director and focus on design.

Support services

WS Atkins, the engineering services consultancy, said its performance in the year to date has been in line with its expectations, with core markets remaining “robust”.

Financial services More than a third of City financial services staff said they had received higher bonus payments than last year while 70 per cent got payouts that matched or exceeded their expectations, according to Morgan McKinley, the head-hunter.

Technology

Morse, the IT consulting group, reported a higher first-half pretax profit and has appointed Kevin Loosemore, of Micro Focus International, as its chairman, replacing Richard Lapthorne who is retiring. The company added that it is confident of its full-year prospects.

Play.com, the Jersey-based group, is to offer unrestricted digital music downloads. It is seeking to challenge the dominance of Apple with its PlayDigital service, which offers 1.3 million tracks free of the digital rights management technology that limits the devices on which legitimately downloaded tracks can be played.

Bebo, the social networking site, has engaged Allen and Co, the investment bank, amid speculation that the Anglo-American company could be sold for more than $1 billion (£511 million).

Telecoms

Telstra, the Australian telecoms company, has entered into a partnership with imate to launch two of its Ultimate mobile devices to Telstra customers.

China Mobile, the world’s biggest mobile operator, announced that it would join trials of LTE, the technical standard for next-generation “4G” mobile phone services.

Telecom Italiaunveiled plans for a new unit to oversee its network operations. The group said the unit, Open Access, would help it to cut costs and boost efficiency.

Transport

BMI, the privately owned airline, is to lease two Boeing 757-200 aircraft to expand its mid-haul services from Heathrow. The aircraft will be used to increase capacity to Almaty in Kazakhstan and Free-town in Sierra Leone.

Utilities

British Energy, the country’s biggest electricity generator, is considering a £5.5 billion break-up plan that would involve creating a new company focused on the construction of a new generation of UK nuclear power plants. The proposal would involve splitting the group in two, leaving one company to oversee its existing eight nuclear power stations.