PRESS DIGEST - British Business Press - May 17

The Times

BA FORCED TO CONSIDER '900 MILLION POUND FALL' IN PROFIT

British Airways (BAY.L: Quote, Profile, Research) has been forced to consider a possible 900 million pound fall in profit as a result of the rising price of oil. Martin Broughton, the chairman, admitted on Friday that the board had discussed what the plan of action would be if the airline was in a "break-even position" by the end of this financial year, saying "the crude objective is not to get into a break-even situation but to stay profitable." The pessimistic comments alarmed investors. Nick van den Brul, aviation analyst at Exane BNP Paribas, said: "There is clearly a lot of bad news to come."

TAKEOVER BATTLE AT BRITISH ENERGY HOTS UP, 2 MORE APPROACHES

British Energy (BGY.L: Quote, Profile, Research) is at the centre of an increasingly heated takeover battle as it emerged on Friday that the power company had received two more preliminary offers, one valuing it at almost 11 billion pounds. The company has received takeover or other approaches from EDF Energy (EDF.PA: Quote, Profile, Research), RWE (RWEG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research), Iberdrola (IBE.MC: Quote, Profile, Research) and Suez (LYOE.PA: Quote, Profile, Research), the French industrial group. The company said it had been approached by "several parties wanting to make a full offer". The shares jumped 5.2 percent on news of the additional approaches, closing up 35.5 pence at 715.5 pence.