12:48 PM
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Jeremy Darroch, chief executive of BSkyB, has said his chairman James Murdoch has the company board's "unanimous support".
Speaking to Lesley Curwen, he said that in his own experience, James Murdoch "had always acted with the highest degree of integrity" at the company.
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12:44 PM
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The 3DS, a cross between a handheld and a tablet device, has not been a smash hit Japanese gaming giant Nintendo has reported a surprise loss, hit by weak sales of its new 3DS handheld game player.The company reported a net loss of 25.5bn yen ($324m, £201m) for the April-to-June quarter, compared with a loss of 25.2bn yen last year.
For the year to March 2012, Nintendo now expects a net profit of 20bn yen, down 82% from its previous forecast.
It has cut the price of the 3DS console sharply in Japan and the US.
The price in Japan will be about 40% less - retailing at 15,000 yen. In the US, the price will drop next month to $169.99 from $249.99.
"For anyone who was on the fence about buying a Nintendo 3DS, this is a huge motivation to buy now," Nintendo's US president Reggie Fils-Aime said.
Analysts said Nintendo lacked hit games titles to fuel sales of its consoles.
Nintendo's total sales during the quarter fell by more than 50% to 93.93bn yen.
About 80% of Nintendo's sales are from outside of Japan, meaning it has been hit severely by a strong yen.
The company's shares in Tokyo have fallen by more than 40% this year.
12:43 PM
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Many of the job losses will be at Credit Suisse's investment bank Credit Suisse is to cut more than 2,000 jobs - or 4% of its global workforce of 50,700 - by the end of next year in an attempt to make savings.The announcement came as the Swiss bank reported a 52% year-on-year fall in net profit to 768m Swiss francs ($959m; £586m) in the second quarter.
Its results were hurt by a strong currency and a drop in trading.
Earlier this week, fellow Swiss bank UBS hinted at job cuts after announcing plans to reduce costs by up to $2.5bn.
'Persistent headwinds'Credit Suisse's results were worse than analysts had expected.
Revenues fell 25% to 6.3bn Swiss francs in the quarter, with revenues from trading down 69%.
"We have to recognise the likelihood that the current headwinds in the economic and market environment may be more persistent than we would have hoped," said chief executive Brady Dougan and chairman Urs Rohner.
"We expect interest rates to remain low for an extended period of time and the strong Swiss franc to continue to have an impact on our results. We may also continue to see lower levels of client activity and a volatile trading environment."
The job cuts are part of a programme designed to make savings of 1bn Swiss francs in 2012.
The bank said the cuts would hit all divisions but particularly its investment bank, whose performance was "below expectations".
They would also be made in all regions, with 500 of the losses to come in Switzerland.
12:42 PM
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Madoff is serving a 150-year jail term for his massive fraud A trustee charged with recovering money for victims of Bernard Madoff's massive fraud scheme says he has secured more than $1bn (£610m) from investment funds which placed money with the fraudster.Irving Pickering said the total money recovered now stands at $8.6bn.
Among those funds that settled was New York-based Tremont Group, regarded as a feeder fund for Madoff.
Madoff is serving 150 years in jail in the US for a $65bn fraud which hit thousands of investors' savings.
The so-called Ponzi scheme used new members' money rather than profits to pay returns to existing investors.
The scheme had been running since the early 1990s.
It unravelled when Madoff's investors, hit by the economic downturn, tried to withdraw about $7bn, but he could not produce the money.
12:40 PM
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Spotify launched its service in the US in mid-July Music service Spotify is being sued in the US and Europe for allegedly violating patents held by PacketVideo.The lawsuit claims that Spotify has violated at least two patents owned by PacketVideo that cover methods of streaming music over data networks.
The legal action comes barely two weeks after Spotify launched a US version of its music streaming service.
UK-based Spotify said it would "strongly contest" the claims PacketVideo made in its lawsuit.
Tangled patentsCourt papers that kicked off the legal action were filed by PacketVideo lawyers on 28 July. The patents in question were filed in 1995 and became the property of PacketVideo when it bought Swiss-based SDC AG in 2007.
PacketVideo has filed legal papers in San Diego and the Netherlands. It said the lawsuit had been filed following attempts to "amicably resolve" the dispute over the patents outside the court.
"PacketVideo has a strong intellectual property portfolio, and will take any necessary action needed to protect its intellectual property and prevent the misuse of its patents," said Joel Espelien, PacketVideo's general counsel in a statement.
In response, Spotify said in a statement that its success was due to its "highly innovative, proprietary hybrid technology that incorporates peer-to-peer technology".
"PacketVideo is claiming that by distributing music over the internet, Spotify (and by inference any other similar digital music service) has infringed one of the patents that has previously been acquired by PacketVideo," it added. "Spotify is strongly contesting PacketVideo's claim."
The lawsuit is the latest in a growing number of patent wrangles that have set tech firms against each other. Apple, Nokia, HTC, Google, Oracle, Samsung, Electronic Arts, AT&T and many others are all fighting or have launched, sometimes simultaneously, legal action over patents.
In addition, many firms who claim to own patents but have never turned them into working code or gadgets are also suing tech firms for infringing on their intellectual property.
The situation led Kent Walker, Google's top lawyer, to decry the "explosion in patent litigation" which "threatens to stifle innovation".
12:38 PM
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Merck is continuing to streamline following its 2009 purchase of rival Schering Plough US drugmaker Merck & Co is to cut a further 12,000 to 13,000 jobs by 2013, despite announcing quarterly profits of $2bn (£1.2bn).The planned workforce reduction comes as Merck seeks to find an extra $1.5bn in annual cost savings.
The cuts will equate to between 13% and 14% of its current 91,000 global workforce.
Merck had already shed 12,500 positions in 2010, at the same time as it created 6,000 new jobs.
The company is continuing to streamline its business following its 2009 purchase of US rival Schering Plough for $41bn.
'Difficult actions'Merck made a net profit of $2bn in the three months to 30 June, compared with $752m a year earlier, when it was hit by a one-off restructuring charge related to the Schering Plough purchase.
Its quarterly revenues were up 7% to $12.5bn.
Merck chief executive Kenneth Frazier said: "Merck is taking these difficult actions so that we can grow profitably and continue to deliver on our mission well into the future.
"The environment we operate in is changing rapidly and dramatically, and these steps will help us more efficiently serve customers and patients around the world."
Analyst Damien Conover, of investment research group Morningstar, said he expected other drugmakers to expand their own cost-cutting work.
"We have to remember that 10 years ago these firms were extremely bloated and in an entirely different operating mould, and it's really shifted to one where you don't need the gigantic sales forces that you once needed," he added.
New Jersey-based Merck & Co should not be confused with its German chemicals and pharmaceuticals namesake, Merck KGaA.
Although the two firms share the same historic roots, they are separate companies.
12:36 PM
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The continuing conflict in Libya has greatly reduced Total and Eni's exports from the country Oil companies Total and Eni have both blamed profit falls on the conflict in Libya disrupting their production in the north African country.France's Total saw its net profit decline 12% to 2.73bn euros ($3.89bn; £2.4bn) in the three months to 30 June.
Also affected by maintenance work reducing output at its oil rigs in the North Sea, this compares with a profit of 3.1bn euros a year earlier.
Profits at Italy's Eni for the same quarter were down 31% from a year ago.
Eni's net profit totalled 1.25bn euros, compared with 1.82bn euros.
The two companies have substantial investments in Libya.
'Volatility'Total chief executive Christophe de Margerie said: "The combination of sustained global demand and geopolitical troubles increased tensions in the oil market during the second quarter."
Despite the company's latest results failing to meet market expectations, Total said it remained confident going forward, highlighting its successful exploration work in Bolivia and Angola.
Mr de Margerie added: "Total begins the second half of 2011 very confident in its outlook for profitable growth."
Eni said 2011 would continue to be "characterised by a certain degree of uncertainty and volatility".
Yet it said it was now benefiting from new fields coming into production in the US, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Italy.
Total and Eni's weak results come after rivals Exxon, Shell and BP all announced a big rise in profits.
12:35 PM
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Alibaba Group is one of the world's biggest internet conglomerates. Yahoo and Chinese internet company Alibaba have reached an agreement over its online payment service Alipay.On Tuesday, Yahoo said Alibaba - in which Yahoo owns a stake - had spun off its online payment service Alipay without informing it.
Yahoo and Alibaba have now agreed that Alibaba would benefit from any future financial gain, such as a public offering.
Alibaba will also license some of its intellectual property to Alipay.
Alibaba will receive a minimum of $2bn (£1.2bn) and a maximum of $6bn from the sale of Alipay, under the terms of the agreement.
Earlier in the week, Yahoo said Alipay was transferred to a Chinese company, owned mostly by Alibaba chief executive Jack Ma, in August 2010.
Yahoo said it only found out about it in March this year. However, Alibaba insists the transaction was talked about at a 2009 board meeting.
Yahoo owns a 43% stake in Alibaba.
12:33 PM
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Prices across the UK rose by 0.2% in July, to £168,731, leaving them just 0.4% lower than a year ago.
The society said demand for homes was still sluggish, and a gradual rise in the supply of available houses was keeping prices stable.
Separate figures from the Bank of England showed a slight rise in mortgage activity.
Down and upAlthough prices are almost the same as they were a year ago, since July 2010 they have fallen and then recovered, according to the Nationwide's measurement.
Completed sales are still running at roughly half the level recorded before the banking crisis. Since December 2010, the average house price, not seasonally adjusted, has now gone up by 4%.
Economists often argue that the best guide to short-term trends is to compare the average price over the last three months with that of the previous three.
Continue reading the main storyProperty transactions are at severely low levels due to the disconnect between buyers and sellers”End Quote Matt Hutchinson Spareroom.co.uk The Nationwide says that on that basis, prices have risen by just 0.3%.
The building society's chief economist, Robert Gardner, said this stability reflected the "uncertain" state of the economy.
"House prices remain relatively high compared to incomes and, together with more demanding deposit requirements, this is dissuading, or at least delaying, some first-time buyers from entering the market," he said.
"The Nationwide talks of stability, but this is little more than a euphemism for stagnation," said Matt Hutchinson, director of flat and house sharing website Spareroom.co.uk.
"With the exception of London, property transactions are at severely low levels due to the disconnect between buyers and sellers. Properties are not selling because what buyers are prepared to pay falls well short of what sellers are willing, or able, to accept."
Figures released on Thursday by the Land Registry, which covered prices in June, found that prices over the previous year had varied significantly in different regions of England and Wales.
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Mortgage market The number of home loans approved for house purchases rose slightly in June, according to figures published on Friday by the Bank of England.Continue reading the main storyPressures on household finances such as high inflation and low wage growth are clearly taking their toll on the ability of households to save”End Quote Adrian Coles Building Societies Association There were 48,421 mortgages approved for house purchases - higher than the average of the previous six months of 45,850.
But, with few signs of interest rate rises in the coming months, the pace of remortgaging activity has slowed.
Although there was a slight rise in the number of approvals for remortgaging to 30,705, this was below the average of the previous six months.
Consumer borrowing through loans and credit cards also rose slightly in June, the Bank's figures showed.
Figures from the Building Societies Association (BSA) show that the stock of savings held in mutuals in June shrunk by £362m.
"Pressures on household finances such as high inflation and low wage growth are clearly taking their toll on the ability of households to save," said BSA director general Adrian Coles.
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