Kingfisher profits to take wing by 24%British retailer Kingfisher Plc, whose shares have outperformed the London stock market by about 12 per cent since January, is set to unveil a 24 per cent jump in profits when it reports annual results next Wednesday. Group pre-tax profits are estimated to rise to between 482million and 490 million pounds, up from 390.2 million in the previous year. The total dividend is set to increase to between 21 and 22pence from 19 pence. The group's overall sales are estimated to rise by about 12 per cent, to just under 6.5 billion pounds.
UK unions warn Brown
Britain's trade unions on Friday warned Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown ahead of his budget next week that a public pay squeeze was pushing industrial relations to breaking point. "Public servants are tired of being paid peanuts," said a senior negotiator at a trade unions representing some of the state's five million employees. "We put up with years of virtual pay freezes under theconservatives...to have to go through it again is a joke," said the official, who asked not to be named.
European airline traffic up
Major European airlines saw continued strong traffic figures in early 1998, with a passenger growth rate of 8.3 per cent in January over the same month last year, the Association of European Airlines said on Friday. "The industry is in a fairly healthy growth situation," said an AEA official.
Last year, AEA's 26 member airlines, mostly flag carriers, carried 162.7 million passengers on international scheduled flights compared with 147.9 million in 1996.
Opec oil producers serve notice
Opec oil producers served a notice on Friday saying they needed more time to settle a bitter internal row over production that has helped send prices tumbling to nine year lows. Officials said a long-scheduled meeting next week of a committee of oil ministers that reviews market conditions had been postponed, possibly until late March. Oil markets had seen the meeting of themarket monitoring committee (MMC) as the cartel's next opportunity to tackle a vast worldwide glut of crude that has put a painful squeeze on OPEC revenues. But Purnomo, the Indonesian OPEC governor, said in Jakarta the committee due in Vienna on Monday and Tuesday was delayed until further notice.
