Paper Tips

Morning Eyecatchers: BA delivers Q4 operating margin of 10% Friday, 16 May 2008

* British Airways delivers fourth quarter operating margin of 10%; full-year pre-tax £883 million vs £811 million; sales up 3.1% to £8.75 billion; sees revenue for the full year increasing by around 4%; full-year revenue guidance at lower end of guidance; first-quarter results to be hit by crude price rises and T5 difficulties; full-year outlook challenging; reviewing capacity, costs and network; new UK air tax regime may adversely impact revenue; to pay first dividend since 2001

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Friday Papers: Banks prepare to swap £85 billion of mortgage-backed assets for T-bills -- other news Friday, 16 May 2008

* Dow advances 94 points and Nasdaq gains 34 points

* US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke tells financial firms to raise capital and toughen risk management

* The UK's biggest banks are preparing to swap £80-90 billion of mortgage-backed assets for Treasury bills with the Bank of England - nearly twice as much as the central bank originally envisaged

* US jobless claims rise by 6,000 to 371,000 in May 10 week; continuing cla Full Article

Friday Papers: Pru eyes Equitable Life with-profit fund -- bid news and gossip Friday, 16 May 2008

* Prudential among parties eyeing Equitable Life's £7 billion with-profit fund

* Royal Bank of Scotland's £7 billion auction of its UK insurance business receives lukewarm reception with Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway pulling out of the bidding

* National Grid eyes E.ON network.

* Blackstone looks to buy back into property it sold at market's height

* Carl Icahn aims to oust Yahoo board as he pushes for Full Article