Christmas Boost Sees Ryanair's Traffic Rise

Ryanair has reported a 3% rise in traffic in the third quarter as strong pre-Christmas bookings boosted its profit.

The airline's average fares were up more than expected - by 8% over the period - leading the company to increase its full-year profit forecast.

Its profit after tax in the third quarter was up by over 20% to 18.1m euros (£15.4m), helping to offset an 81m euros (£69.1m) increase in fuel costs.

Ryanair expects its full year profit to be over 540m euros (£461m) - up from an earlier estimate of 520m euros (£444m) at most.

The airline carried a total of 17.3 million passengers over the third quarter - but is predicting that in the fourth, passenger numbers will slip as a result of higher fuel costs and airport fares.

It expects traffic to fall by around 400,000 passengers when compared to the same period last year.

Chief executive Michael O'Leary said the company's profit was ahead of expectations "due to strong pre-Christmas bookings at higher yields".

He added that the rise in average fares was to due "improved customer service, record punctuality and the successful roll out of our reserved seating service".

The no-frills airline also said it had issued a new proposal in an attempt to win its on-going battle to buy rival Aer Lingus.

The European Commission blocked a previous bid saying it would create a monopoly on some European flights.

A company statement said: "Ryanair has submitted a radical and unprecedented remedies package to the EU in support of its offer for Aer Lingus.

"We believe these remedies address every current Ryanair/Aer Lingus crossover route and all other competition issues raised by the Commission."

Media reports last week said the airline had offered to offload more than a third of Aer Lingus' short-haul operations to secure the takeover.

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Dreamliner: Checks Fail To Find Battery Fault

Boeing 787 Dreamliner Timeline

Updated: 10:17am UK, Monday 28 January 2013

The turbulent history of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner:

Jan 30, 2013: Amid revenue loss forecasts of $500m to $5bn, Boeing CEO to address investors.

Jan 28, 2013: Investigators widen battery examination to sub-contractors of lithium ion battery maker GS Yuasa

Jan 21, 2013: Safety officials start probe of lithium ion battery maker GS Yuasa

Jan 19, 2013: Boeing says it is stopping deliveries of the Dreamliner to airlines

Jan 18, 2013: US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) officials arrive in Japan to examine a 787 and its melted battery pack after an All Nippon Air (ANA) emergency landing two days earlier

Jan 17, 2013: The European Aviation Safety Agency,  FAA and Qatar Airways ground Dreamliners under their regulatory control

Jan 16, 2013: Japan Air Lines Co Ltd (JAL) follows suit and suspends Dreamliner flights from Japan over safety concerns

Jan 16, 2013: ANA grounds all 17 of its 787s after four of its aircraft suffer problems

Jan 16, 2013: ANA 787 Dreamliner makes emergency landing in Takamatsu, Japan, after smoke appears in cabin

Jan 11, 2013: The Federal Aviation Authority announces a review of the 787 design and systems

Jan 11, 2013: ANA discovers engine oil leak after a domestic flight lands at Miyazaki

Jan 11, 2013: A separate ANA flight to Matsuyama reported a crack appearing in the pilot's window

Jan 9, 2013: ANA cancels a Boeing 787 Dreamliner flight due to a brake problem

Jan 8, 2013: Japan Air Lines (JAL) grounds a jet at Boston Logan International Airport after a 787 leaks 150 litres of fuel

Jan 7, 2013: A fire erupts in a battery pack in another JAL Dreamliner at Boston

Dec 13, 2012: Qatar Airways grounds one of its Dreamliners because of a faulty generator

Dec 5, 2012: The FAA orders inspections of all 787 Dreamliners in service in the US

Dec 4, 2012: A United Airlines 787 is forced to make an emergency landing in New Orleans after a generator fails

July 23, 2012: ANA grounds five Dreamliners due to an engine component issue

Feb 22, 2012: Boeing says around 55 Dreamliners may be affected by a flaw in the fuselage

Oct 26, 2011: The Dreamliner makes its maiden flight with paying passengers on board an ANA jet

Sep 26, 2011: Boeing delivers its first 787 Dreamliner to Japan's ANA, three years late

Jun 23, 2010: Boeing postpones the first flight of the Dreamliner because of a structural flaw

Dec 15, 2009: The passenger jet 787 Dreamliner takes off on its maiden test flight

Apr 9, 2008: Boeing says there will be a revised plan for the first 787 flight and initial deliveries

Dec 11, 2008: Boeing announces further delays due to strike action by machinists Sept-Nov

Oct 19, 2007: Boeing says there will be a six-month delay to deliveries due to assembly issues

Jul 8, 2007: The first assembled 787 goes on display to media, employees and customers

Jul 18, 2006: Boeing says it is making "solid progress" on the 787 Dreamliner programme

Jan 28, 2005: Boeing gives its new commercial airplane an official model designation number - 787

Jan 29, 2003: Boeing announces the launch of a new aircraft called the 7E7

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Google Sued Over Apple Browsing Privacy

Google is facing legal action in the UK over claims it breached the privacy of people browsing the internet on Apple computers and mobile devices.

Twelve people are seeking damages from the company for allegedly tracking their use of the web without their knowledge.

The claimants say Google designed a code to secretly install cookies - small tracking files - on the Safari internet browser.

Cookies can be used to target advertising based on the type of websites someone looks at.

Olswang, the law firm handling the case, gives the example of a person searching for engagement rings could find that their partner, using the same computer, later sees adverts for rings.

The claimants say they thought cookies were being blocked on the devices because of assurances given by Google and Safari's only default privacy settings.

It is estimated that around 10 million people could have grounds to bring a claim given the number of Apple users at the time in question - summer 2011 to spring 2012.

There is no suggestion that Apple is in any way at fault in the case.

Campaigners have also set up a Facebook "information" group called Safari Users Against Google's Secret Tracking.

Dan Tench, a partner at Olswang, said Google had a "responsibility to consumers and should be accountable".

He added: "We hope that they will take this opportunity to give Safari users a proper explanation about what happened, to apologise and, where appropriate, compensate the victims of their intrusion."

Google was fined $22.5m (£14.3) in the US last year over similar claims, with the Federal Trade Commission ruling that the firm had broken a promise not to mislead consumers over its privacy practices.

The company declined to comment on the matter when contacted by Sky News.

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Toyota's Record Sales Make It Top Carmaker

Toyota has reported vehicle sales of 9.75 million in 2012 - an increase of more than 22% on the year before.

The Japanese company beat its own estimate - of around 9.7 million cars - to overtake rivals General Motors (GM) and Volkswagen to become world's number one carmaker.

Toyota's overseas sales jumped 19% last year, while in Japan - where the economy is struggling - sales recovered by 35%.

The company lost the top-selling title in 2011 after two years at the top following the earthquake in Japan and floods in Thailand which disrupted its supply chain.

It was also hit by negative publicity after a number of embarrassing car-safety recalls in the US involving millions of vehicles.

Toyota's Prius is the world's best-selling hybrid car

The company, which makes the Prius hybrid and Lexus luxury model, hopes to beat last year's record-high figures in 2013, forecasting sales of 9.91 million vehicles group-wide.

The world's number two carmaker - Detroit-based GM - sold 9.28 million vehicles, up almost 3% on the previous year.

It had been the top-selling company for more than seven decades before losing the title to Toyota in 2008, but regained it again in 2011.

Germany's Volkswagen came third with sales up 11.2% at 9.07 million vehicles.

Toyota played down the significance of the rankings.

"Rather than going after numbers, we hope to make fine products, one by one, to keep out customers satisfied," spokeswoman Shino Yamada said.

"The numbers are just a result of our policy and our policy will continue unchanged."

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Pensions Schemes Shut 'At Fastest Rate Ever'

Companies have closed final salary pension schemes to new staff at the fastest rate on record, according to new research.

The National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) said only 13% of final salary pensions were open to new joiners last year, a fall of a third from 2011.

It was the biggest reduction since comparable figures started in 2005, when almost half of private sector schemes were open to all employees.

The association's annual survey also showed that the defined benefit funds were increasingly closing to workers already in them.

Higher liabilities created by quantitative easing and low gilt yields have prompted a "barrage" of closures, said the NAPF.

Chief executive Joanne Segars said: "The pressures on final salary pensions have proven too great for many businesses.

"Those starting a new job in the private sector have next to no chance of getting a final salary pension.

"What was once the norm is now a very rare offer, and those who are currently saving into one may find it gets closed."

Although two million private employees are in the schemes a new automatic enrolment system will bring millions of workers into a new pension type that will dominate in the private sector, the association added.

Paul Kenny, general secretary of the GMB union, said: "The recently announced state pension reforms will cost private sector employees about £1bn in extra tax and will further accelerate the juggernaut of final salary closures.

"Many employers aren't interested in providing for a dignified retirement for their workers. The new requirements for automatic enrolment will provide a minimum framework, but this won't be enough."

A Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson said: "Millions of people still benefit from final salary schemes, but their increasing costs means that over the decades many have closed to new members.

"Automatic enrolment into a workplace pension will see many millions more people saving for their retirement, with a contribution from the employer.

"We are working with the industry to ensure that pensions people will be enrolled in continue to be high-quality, low-cost, and we encourage all those who can to go beyond the minimum contribution to ensure they get a retirement income that meets their aspirations."

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Corporate Manslaughter Cases Up By 40% In A Year

The number of new corporate manslaughter cases opened by the Crown Prosecution Services has spiked by 40% in a year, according to newly released figures.

The research shows there has been an increase in charges from 45 in 2011 to 63 in 2012.

In total 141 cases have been opened since 2009, with 56 prosecutions currently ongoing, according to law firm Pinsent Masons.

But despite the rise in numbers, there have only been three convictions since 2008.

It said the figures hinted that the scale of potential corporate manslaughter cases may be much higher.

Since the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 was introduced the following year, large and medium-sized companies can be found guilty of corporate manslaughter for deaths arising from management failures which constituted a gross breach of a duty of care.

Pinsent Masons' Simon Joyston-Bechal said: "High-risk industries and companies cannot be reassured by the current lack of convictions for corporate manslaughter.

"The three convictions so far are just the tip of an iceberg."

He added: "Corporate manslaughter cases are very complex and can take a long time to come to trial. We can now see from these figures that there are a rapidly growing number of cases in the pipeline."

According to the study, the first corporate manslaughter conviction in 2011 related to a 2008 fatality and the second conviction in 2012 related to a 2010 fatality while the third conviction in 2012 related to a fatality four years prior, in 2008.

The CPS, however, has placed caveats on the findings due to the classification procedure, date of possible offences or withdrawal of charges.

CPS deputy head of special crime Malcolm McHaffie said: "The number of potential corporate manslaughter referrals is increasing following introduction of the Act.

These cases are handled by specialist lawyers and so far we have started proceedings against five organisations with the new offence.

Two of those prosecutions concluded in convictions and three remain live. These are, however, complex cases which can take some time for us to consider and may result in prosecutions for offences other than under the Corporate Manslaughter Act."

With firms trying to reduce overhead they may be tempted to cut spending on health and safety, according to researchers.

Mr Joyston-Bechal warned: "Cutting corners on safety in order to save money is probably the most serious aggravating feature of an offence.

"All businesses need to have robust health and safety procedures in place."

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Pickles Slams 'Cheating' Councils Over Tax

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has vowed to introduce new laws to stop councils imposing stealth taxes on households next year.

Mr Pickles claims some local authorities in England are "cheating taxpayers" by not signing up to a council tax freeze.

He declared councils would be treating residents "with contempt" if they went ahead with tax hikes without holding a referendum.

The senior Tory told the Daily Telegraph that authorities not freezing council tax this year should "man up" and consult the public.

Ministers want council tax to be frozen for a third year and have said English councils wanting to impose rises above 2% should stage a vote.

Eric Pickles is angry with local councils

Freezing the levy rather than raising it in line with inflation would reportedly save the average household around £72.

But fewer than a third of English councils have agreed to the freeze in April - compared to 99% in 2011 and 85% last year.

The coalition is preparing to take on local authorities by planning new laws meaning any large increase in council tax will have to be put to a referendum.

But some councils are said to have taken legal advice about how to exploit a loophole in the rules. Others are planning a 1.99% increase.

Mr Pickles said: "Those who put up their stealth tax by 1.99% in a bid to avoid our 2% referendum threshold need a reality check.

"We will take into consideration anybody cheating their taxpayers. Anybody using loopholes will lose out next year."

The Cabinet minister made clear that he had no problem with some councils putting up tax to fund local projects - as long as they sought the public's backing first.

His comments are the latest sign of a rift between central and local government over tax and spending amid anger at the scale of the coalition's cuts.

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M&S Hit By Poor Sales At China Store Chain

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

Marks & Spencer is facing a fresh headache over its trading performance as its stores in mainland China struggle to meet sales targets set by executives.

I understand that the retailer's 14 shops in the world's most populous nation have been underperforming internal targets by as much as 30% during parts of the last few months.

The news comes weeks after M&S confirmed that like-for-like sales at its core UK business were disappointing during the crucial Christmas trading period.

People close to M&S said that the company's management remained wholly committed to its operations in China and that further outlets would open this year. Its inaugural store on the mainland opened in 2008 on West Nanjing Road in Shanghai, often dubbed the city's answer to London's Bond Street.

In its third-quarter results statement this month, M&S said that international sales during the period had risen by just over 4% on a constant currency basis, which strips out the effect of exchange rate movements.

It also said: "Our key international markets in India and China continued to trade well. However, international sales overall were impacted by currency translation, as well as continued macro-economic weakness in the Republic of Ireland and Greece and the on-going restructuring of our Central European business."

Insiders said, though, that the stores in China were "significantly underperforming against internal targets".

An M&S spokeswoman declined to comment.

The stores in China are predominantly located in Shanghai but M&S also has a presence in so-called 'second-tier' cities such as Ningbo, Qingdao and Wuhan, each of which has a population of several million people.

M&S, which also operates 14 stores in Hong Kong, is far from the only international clothing retailer to attempt to crack the potentially-vast Chinese market. H&M, the Swedish group, Spanish-owned Zara and Uniqlo of Japan also have a sizeable presence there.

The international expansion of M&S' business under Marc Bolland, the current chief executive, and his predecessor, Sir Stuart Rose, followed a controversial period of retrenchment which saw the company pull out of countries including France and the United States at huge financial cost.

Mr Bolland is under pressure to demonstrate a rebound in M&S's UK general merchandise business, where same-store sales fell by 3.8% over Christmas.

The City was, however, reassured to a degree by Mr Bolland's efforts to protect margins by not discounting as heavily as M&S had done a year earlier.

Its food business fared better, registering a 0.3% increase in like-for-like sales during the trading period.

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Premier Foods Shares Fall As Mike Clarke Quits

Shares in the UK's largest food producer have fallen by over 10% after it confirmed the departure of its chief executive.

Premier Foods' boss Mike Clarke will step down after just 18 months in the job, as revealed by Sky's City Editor Mark Kleinman on Friday.

He will be replaced by Gavin Darby, the former head of Cable and Wireless Worldwide, the company confirmed.

It comes as the company attempts to repair its finances following a tough few years during which it almost collapsed.

While in charge, Mr Clarke was tasked with reducing the company's debts and he sold businesses including Sarson's vinegar and Branston pickle.

In November the company announced 900 job cuts at its bread business, which accounts for almost 40% of its total revenue.

Investors are concerned that the chief executive's departure could hit Premier Foods' turnaround plan.

Investec's Martin Deboo said: "We see the surprise change of leadership as unhelpful to Premier's stability and organic growth prospects.

"With its financial restructuring complete, we think that consistency and longevity of leadership was going to be critical to its prosperity."

But the company's chairman David Beever said he was "delighted" by Mr Darby's appointment, adding that his consumer goods background and management track record "make him the ideal candidate to lead the company".

Mr Darby said he was excited to be taking on the role.

"Although markets remain difficult, I look forward to working with the team to develop and grow the company's power brands in the coming years," he said.

At 4.00pm, shares in Premier Foods - which owns a host of well-known brands including Hovis and Oxo - were down by 10.3%.

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Icesave Court Win Over UK Bank Blocking

Iceland was right to refuse to repay billions to Britain and the Netherlands for bailing out depositors in a failed Icelandic bank, a European court has ruled.

After the collapse four years ago of Iceland's top lenders during the credit crunch, the British and Dutch governments stepped in to repay savers in the online "Icesave" account run by Landsbanki and wanted Iceland to pay them back directly.

Iceland did not comply, triggering a row between the governments and potentially complicating the island's bid to join the European Union.

But the court of the European Free Trade Association (Efta) bloc found Iceland did not break depositor protection laws by refusing to return the money.

Last week, Iceland's president told Sky News Economic Editor Ed Conway that his nation would "never forget" Gordon Brown for the treatment it was given by the then British leader.

Icelanders in referendums twice voted against repayment schemes drawn up by their government to satisfy the British and Dutch claims, leaving the estate of Landsbanki to pay back the funds, which it has steadily done.

Protesters outside Icelandic parliament

"It is of considerable satisfaction that Iceland's defence has won the day in the Icesave case - the Efta court ruling brings to a close an important stage in a long saga," the Icelandic foreign ministry said in a statement.

The Efta court, a cooperation group of which Iceland is a member and which has links to the European Union, rejected the case brought by the Efta Surveillance Authority - the body which oversees the bloc's rules.

In a ruling on its website, the court dismissed all three of the claims brought by the Surveillance Authority against Iceland, partly on the grounds of the massive nature of Iceland's bank collapse.

It also said the depositor protection rules did not mean a country itself had to fund the deposit guarantee scheme.

The foreign ministry said in a statement that 660 billion crowns (£3.2bn) had already been paid out from the estate of Landsbanki, of which 585 billion crowns (£2.9bn) had gone to claims related to Icesave, or more than 90% of the total which the UK and Dutch authorities advanced to cover the minimum deposit guarantee for Icesave.

"It is important to bear in mind that payments from the estate of the failed Landsbanki will continue regardless of the ruling of the Efta court," the Icelandic foreign ministry added.

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