Northern Rock revealed yesterday that underlying pre-tax profits jumped 14.4 per cent to £273.3m in the first half of this year on the back of record lending. Rightmove, the property services company whose share price was hit by the Government’s U-turn on Home Information Packs (Hips), scrapped plans yesterday to invest any more cash in the scheme. The company had originally planned to spend £22m developing its own Hip product and had spent about £7m to date.
Rightmove said it would cost another £1.2m to exit from its strategy but reiterated the upbeat message of its 6 July trading statement, when the company said pre-tax profits would exceed the top end of analysts’ forecasts.However the company, which says that more than half of Britain’s estate agents are registered on its site, said the change of policy meant that potential sales and earnings of its own Hip offering were likely to be significantly lower than expected.Rightmove’s shares plunged more than 20 per cent last week after ministers watered down plans to make sellers pay for a pack that would have included a property survey.The move came after sustained pressure from mortgage lenders, surveyors and estate agents who claimed that the industry would never have been ready for the planned implementation next June, and that Hips could endanger the stability of the housing market.A Rightmove spokeswoman said yesterday: “We don’t feel now that Hips will create much business growth for Rightmove so this is the right time for Rightmove to stop this.”Hips were to include all local and environmental searches, details of leases and planning permission applications, as well as a home condition report (HCR), which would have comprised a basic structural survey and details of the energy efficiency of the property.The Government estimated they would have cost sellers about £650, although some experts in the industry experts claimed the figure would have been nearer £1,000.Under the new legislation, the inclusion of HCRs – which would have accounted for most of the cost of a Hip – would no longer be mandatory. They must have clearer visibility going forward and are more confident of the future.”Founded in 1851, Reuters had enjoyed a global monopoly of the provision of financial information before it was challenged in the early 1990s by Bloomberg.Mr Glocer’s recovery plan saw him commit to invest in new markets, content and services last year after disposing of or closing more than 80 parts of Reuters’ business over three years..

Operating profits from continued activities grew to £122m in the six months to the end of June, up from £105m in the first half of 2005. Reuters shares, which have declined 16 per cent this year, improved 19.25p to 396.75p, valuing the group at £5.2bn.Lorna Tilbian, a media analyst at Numis Securities, said: “The big surprise was the hike in the divvy. As we transition from recovery to growth, we delivered a 9 per cent increase in revenues while strong cost discipline has given us room to invest.”The interim dividend was raised 6.5 per cent to 4.1p per share. Revenues of almost £1.3bn were 12 per cent higher than this time last year, bolstered by acquisitions and greater contributions from stock exchanges for selling their information to Reuters’ clients. Allowing for currency fluctuations, sales were up 9 per cent.
The company, led by the chief executive Tom Glocer, expects revenues to grow over the full year by between 5 per cent and 6 per cent.Mr Glocer said: “It has been an encouraging first half. The information provider Reuters Group unveiled surprisingly strong sales over the first half of this year, told the City that revenues for the full year will be better than previously expected, and lifted its dividend for the first time in five years yesterday. The warning sent Peugeot shares 10 per cent lower.Peugeot has taken a €227m charge to pay for the closure of Ryton, which the company expects will generate €91m in annual savings.

Its finance director Yann Delabriere said: “The faster people apply for redundancy, the quicker it will close.” But he ruled out closing the plant early in “retaliation” against the union campaign to boycott its cars.. The current cost-saving target of €600m (£410m) a year will be lifted but Peugeot appeared to rule out any further plant closures.Peugeot had expected its raw materials bill to rise by €200m-€250m this year but it is now forecasting a €450m increase, largely as a result of big jumps in the price of aluminium and the precious metals used to make catalytic converters.Higher raw material costs in the first half coupled with a less profitable mix of sales combined to reduce Peugeot’s operating profit by half to €691m, cutting its margin to 2.4 per cent against a target of 2.8 per cent. Peugeot also cut its profit forecast for the second six months. Analysts sliced their forecasts.* ITV Advertising revenues slumped because companies opted not to pay inflated prices for slots between the games.* 888 Punters bet on the football rather than play its online poker and casino games.. Its growth rate has slowed from earlier in the year because of the tough comparisons with last year when there was a new Harry Potter book.Football winners and losersWINNERS* Kesa Electricals Demand for flat-panel TVs lifted like-for-like sales by 8.6 per cent at Comet.* Domino’s Pizza Like-for-like sales climbed 8.3 per cent.* J Sainsbury A sponsor of the tournament, it credited the football as one of the main factors behind its 5.7 per cent like-for-like sales growth.* McDonald’s Another sponsor, it had its strongest quarter in Europe for more than a decade.LOSERS* GCap Said there was less advertising because the World Cup was responsible for a 14 per cent slump in July revenues.