Russia originally only offered a token 30000 barrel cut increased more recently to 50000 barrels

Russia originally only offered a token 30,000 barrel cut, increased more recently to 50,000 barrels.In London trading, crude oil for January settlement jumped nearly $1, or 5 per cent, to $20.25 a barrel as Opec welcomed Russia’s increased offer. The Russian Prime Minister, Mikhail Kasyanov, negotiated the cut with the country’s top oil companies at a meeting yesterday.However, many analysts viewed the news as a victory for a clever game played by Russia, rather than a win for Opec. Observers also said they did not expect Russia or Opec to stick to the new limits in practice. Professor Paul Stevens of Dundee University pointed out that Russian output typically fell by 100,000 barrels each winter anyway.”Russia is actually offering nothing more than they were. But Opec should go for this as they were desperately looking for a way out, otherwise there was the possibility of $10 oil early next year,” he said.. The chairman of Kelda, the owner of Yorkshire Water, yesterday predicted a fresh wave of foreign takeovers of UK water companies unless the industry was allowed to restructure itself radically.

Mr Napier would not comment on any approaches Kelda may have had, discussions are understood to have taken place with potential bidders.The Kelda chairman, thwarted last year in his attempt to turn Yorkshire Water into a customer-owned mutual company, said the Government should either permit water companies to earn bigger returns for equity investors or allow them to split the ownership and operation of assets entirely and fund their core operations with debt.”There is no half-way house. It is one model or the other but if we are going to continue to depend on equity to finance the industry, then the returns must be made more attractive to bring in the billions of pounds in investment we need,” he added.Mr Napier said Kelda had no intention of following the example of Anglian Water or Southern Water, where the parent companies are gearing up their balance sheets with debt and using the proceeds to return money to shareholders or finance other parts of the business.He said these schemes did not provide a long-term solution to the industry’s financing needs, nor were they in the best interests of shareholders. “Therefore, we continue to keep all options under review as well as developing further initiatives of our own.”Excluding £4.9m in one-off costs associated with last year’s strategic review, half-year pre-tax profits rose 6 per cent to £91.4m. Operating profits from the core water business rose £6m or 5 per cent to £119m. Kelda said it was keen to expand further in the US following this year’s £208m purchase of four New England Water companies to add to its existing Aquarion business..

WH Smith is to open 120 new stores in the UK over the next three years as it pushes into new markets. The expansion programme will create 3,000 jobs and see the group expand into Northern Ireland for the first time. Its new shop in Fort Kinnaird in Scotland includes a Costa Coffee caf?nd audio visual equipment where customers can test music and DVDs. There is also a gift and postal service.Beverly Hodson, managing director of WH Smith Retail, says the idea is to encourage “dwell time”.

She added: “People are spending more on leisure and we need to cater for that experience.”She denied the UK expansion was a reaction to 11 September which has led to a sharp fall in sales at the group’s outlets in US airports and hotels “Absolutely not. This is a long-term strategy and we agreed this plan earlier this year,” she said.In October, Smiths reported a 24 per cent decline in underlying sales at its US stores. UK sales were up 9 per cent on the same basis.Smiths currently has 539 high street stores, and 189 branches at railway stations and airports. Ms Hodson said the company believes there is scope for more stores in secondary towns where Smiths is currently not represented. The group is also looking to open more stores in major city centres.. HBoS, the UK’s fifth-largest bank, yesterday launched its long-awaited bid to shake up the market for small business banking services, promising to pay interest on credit balances in business current accounts However, its rivals refused to engage in battle.