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The group's total net business inflows for the six months jumped 42% to £1.65bn and total assets under administration increased by 16% to £30.4bn. New features and improvements including a new self-invested personal pension loyalty bonus, enhanced equity dealing functionality, new iPad apps and other new functions helped encourage consolidation of assets and improve business. Strong marketing and significant progress across all services also buoyed results. The Vantage division was the biggest contributor to revenues generating £109.m for the period, a 26% increase. "I would like to thank all our employees for their valuable contribution in the record achievement of the first six months and for continually striving to deliver and improve our services," Gorham said. "I would also like to thank our clients for their continued support and recommendation, for which we remain grateful and determined to continue to repay their confidence."

Financial service company Hargreaves Lansdown on Wednesday posted record revenues and profits for the last half of 2012, driven by a boost in client numbers. The FTSE 100 company said revenue was up 24% to £140.3m, while profit before tax rose 30% to £93.7m. Chief Executive Officer Ian Gorham said Hargreaves flew in the face of a global financial crisis with an expanding customer base, particularly in its 'investment supermarket' service Vantage which grew by 21,000 clients to 446,000 over the period. "Despite continued economic uncertainty in the UK, Hargreaves Lansdown has had the scale, financial strength and market presence to continue to improve its position. Clients appreciate our excellent value, service and informed comment," he said. "These results reflect our commitment to clients, the financial security of our business and our ability to provide ever more attractive ways of saving money and investing through a Hargreaves Lansdown account. Total interim dividend increased by 24% to 6.3p per share, compared to 5.1p for the same period a year earlier.

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"The first quarter will also be difficult as a result of the low order intake in many markets during the fourth quarter of 2012. Profitability will be affected by low capacity utilisation, high spending levels in research and development and costs associated with the launch of new products," said chief executive Olof Persson.

Looking to the web for new businessUK retention rates increased slightly from the reported 78% for the first half of the year and HomeServe reported that it was expanding its channels for attracting new customers including through using the internet. "Direct mail and outbound telephony sales channels have historically provided the majority of our new customers in the UK. Whilst direct mail will continue to be a key channel going forward, take up rates from current campaigns are still lower than historic levels and we are currently focusing outbound telephony channel on sales to existing customers only. "We are therefore developing additional ways of acquiring new customers through a broader range of channels including the internet and sales through our partners' call centres. The effectiveness of our marketing campaigns and our retention rate will help to determine the future shape and size of the UK business," the management statement reported. In the US, the group reported its business had secured two new affinity partnerships representing 224,000 affinity partner households and in France and Spain, the group reported "good financial performance" and "strong growth in customer and policy numbers", respectively.

FTSE 250-listed international home emergency business HomeServe has said that adjusted profit before tax for the year ending March 31st would be 'in line with market expectations'. The group stated that it is continuing to grow its international businesses with new affinity partnerships and growing customer numbers and earnings. In the UK, it reported that it was continuing its transition to a smaller, more focused business. Customer numbers in the fiscal year 2013 were reported to be around 2.25m, within the lower end of the target range previously outlined by the company of between 2.2 and 2.4m. Less positively, the group reported that it expects its New Markets segment to report a fiscal year 2013 operating loss of approximately 5.5m, representing a 61.8 increase compared to the fiscal year 2012, when the business reported a 3.4m loss.

Business in the Middle East, on the other hand, experienced setbacks as negotiation of outstanding contract variations continued to be a challenge, impacting short-term profitability and cash flow. "The group continues to trade in line with our expectations and despite challenging conditions in a number of markets our outlook for the full year remains unchanged," the company said in a statement.

Engineering and product management consultancy Atkins on Wednesday said it was trading in line with expectations despite challenging market conditions. The FTSE 250 company has faced difficult trading conditions over the past three months, particularly in North American, according to a business update. Nevertheless, Atkins reported it was on track to deliver net funds exceeding £110m in March. UK trading was one of the biggest revenue drivers, with the group's rail business, water and environment operations and defence and aerospace work progressing well. During the period Atkins secured further design work for highways and transportation including the M25 motorway. The Asia and Europe units businesses also produced strong results with an increased headcount in project consultancy arm Faithful+Gould. The energy division continued to perform well in the period with headcount growing by more than 15% since the start of the year.

"The proceeds from these disposals will support our investment in new renewable assets in the coming financial year and, in line with our commitment to financial discipline, represent an excellent example of SSE creating ongoing value from its investment pipeline while improving the liquidity of the market for investment in new renewable developments." The sale of the wind farms is dependent on Greencoat Capital successfully listing on the London Stock Exchange and raising the required capital. It is expected that this process will be completed by the end of March, at which stage completion of the sale will also take place.

Energy group SSE said Wednesday that it has agreed a deal under which it will sell four wind farms, which have a total generation capacity of 79.5MW, to a new fund managed by Greencoat Capital, which plans to list on the London Stock Exchange. The farms will be sold for a total cash consideration of £140m, and SSE will invest up to £43m of the consideration into shares in the new fund. This will be reduced if the fund is over-subscribed. As part of the deal, SSE has agreed to enter into power purchase agreements (PPA) for three of the wind farms totaling 43.5MW (the fourth wind farm already has a PPA with a third party) and will continue to have the operation and maintenance contract for all four wind farms. Gregor Alexander, Finance Director of SSE, said: "This agreement represents the latest step in a programme of acquisitions and disposals to optimise our wind farm portfolio. Fundamentally, SSE owns generation capacity to meet the electricity needs of its own customers, which is why we were pleased to be able to establish new PPAs before disposing of these assets.

FTSE 250-listed residential property owner Grainger has reported a 224 per cent rise in tenanted investment and other sales from its UK portfolios to 26.6m pounds in the four months to January 31st, compared to 8.2m pounds one year earlier. Group sales rose 3.4% to �64.6m compared to �62.4m a year earlier. Vacant UK sales of 201 units generated gross sales of �32.4m at an average margin of 41.1%. This compared to 195 units being sold a year earlier generating �36.4m at a margin of 39.9%. Gross rents declined slightly to �27.3m compared to �30.4m a year earlier. The group said that this was as a result of the disposal of a proportion of its German assets to its joint venture with Heitman. Andrew Cunningham, Chief Executive Officer of Grainger, said: "We have started this financial year with a number of significant transactions. These endorse and expand upon our asset and property management skills and underpin our stated strategic objectives. "Despite the remaining economic challenges, and a slightly subdued market during the first financial quarter, we are seeing increased signs of activity in 2013. Institutional investor interest in the UK residential market continues to grow, supported by positive government measures."

He said Virgin would complement Liberty's organic revenue and operating cash flow growth. Virgin's Chief Executive Officer, Neil Berkett, added: "Over the past six years, Virgin Media has transformed the digital experience of millions of customers, catalysed a deep-rooted change in the UK's digital landscape and delivered impressive growth and returns for our shareholders. "I'm confident that this deal will help us to build on this legacy. Virgin Media and Liberty Global have a shared ambition, focus on operational excellence and commitment to driving shareholder value. The combined company will be able to grow faster and deliver enhanced returns by capitalizing on the exciting opportunities that the digital revolution presents, both in the UK and across Europe."

"Virgin Media will add significant scale and a first-class management team in Europe's largest and most dynamic media and communications market." The announcement was made alongside Virgin's latest financial results. The cable operator said operating income for the year to the end of December was £699m - up nearly 30% from £540m in 2011. About 5.0m UK households subscribe to Virgin's broadband, television and landline services and it has around 3.0m mobile phone customers in Britain. Cable customers have increased by 88,700 over the last year, according to the latest results from Virgin - in which Sir Richard Branson owns a 3.0% stake. "Like all of our strategic acquisitions we expect this combination to yield meaningful operating and capex synergies of approximately $180m per year upon full integration," Fries said. "But just as importantly, Virgin Media's market leading innovation and product expertise, particularly in mobile and B2B, will accelerate our own development of these business segments."

Virgin Media on Wednesday confirmed it will merge with US billionaire John Malone's Liberty Global. Liberty will buy Virgin in a cash and stock deal worth $23.3bn to create the UK's second biggest pay-TV business after BskyB. It is equal to $47.87 per Virgin share. The transaction puts Malone in direct competition with long-time rival Rupert Murdoch, who owns 39% of BskyB. The merger will allow Liberty to expand its reach in Europe as it goes head-to-head with its major competitor. Together the companies would have 25m customers in 14 countries. Liberty's Chief Executive Officer Mike Fries said roughly 80% of the group's revenue will come from the UK, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland and the Netherlands following the deal. "Adding Virgin Media to our large and growing European operations is a natural extension of the value creation strategy we've been successfully using for over seven years," he said.

Oil and gas engineering firm Lamprell has been awarded a new contract award from Dev Drilling, a company within the Jindal Group, based in Singapore, for the construction and delivery of a completely outfitted and equipped, self-elevating mobile offshore drilling platform. Under the agreement, Jindal has an option for Lamprell to build a further jackup rig, exercisable during a period of six months from the effective date of the contract. Peter Whitbread, Chief Executive Officer, Lamprell, said: "We are delighted to be announcing a new contract win from Jindal for the construction of a Super 116E jackup rig. This is our second order from a highly valued customer and it further underlines both Lamprell's strong position within the market for jackup rigs as well as the continuing support of our existing customers. "We have developed an excellent working relationship with Jindal and we look forward to delivering successfully on this crucial project." The construction phase of the project is expected to take approximately 18 months. The rig is the second that Lamprell has agreed to construct for Jindal.

He confessed there were "many hurdles to overcome" including regulatory and shareholder approvals before the launch of Flybe Ireland but believed the company was well positioned for such a deal.

The group posted revenues of €1.4bn for the year to December 31st, up 8.2% compared with 2011, and underlying operating profit of €69.1m, up 40.7 %. Pre-tax profit dropped 51.9 % to €40.6m due to exceptional items including the cost of restructuring aircraft maintenance operations. If Ryanair receives the green light to purchase Aer Lingus, it will provide Flybe Ireland with a cash injection of €100m and forward sales cash and liabilities worth around €50m. Flybe would pay Ryanair €1m for the newly created airline in order to break into the Irish market and reduce its reliance on revenues from Britain. "Flybe would be delighted to be granted the opportunity to service the Irish aviation market through Flybe Ireland, an airline which would be based in Ireland and dedicated to developing a broad range of scheduled services for business and leisure markets," Flybe's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Jim French, said.

"We question very much that Flybe will be an independent competitor to Ryanair," Mueller told reporters. "We generally agree that weak airlines should disappear but this proposition turns this entire thing upside down." He added that plans to transfer part of Ryanair's carrier business to Flybe could not be taken seriously. "It seems so far-fetched, this proposition, that we don't waste our time in basing things on that," he said. "The entire bid, starting from the price to the construction of the deal, I cannot take really serious." Alongside the statement, Aer Lingus reported a 41% rise in underlying operating profit in 2012 and raised its dividend to €0.04 per share, up from €0.03 in 2011.

Aer Lingus Chief Executive Officer Christoph Mueller on Wednesday criticised Ryanair's latest move in its bid to take over the Irish carrier. He slammed Ryanair's plans with British airline Flybe Group to create a new Irish carrier called Flybe Ireland if the Aer Lingus deal goes through. Ryanair would transfer to Flybe Ireland 43 European routes, at least nine Airbus A320 aircraft and an undisclosed number of flight crew, engineers, management and facilities to operate the business. The strategy would be aimed at maintaining competition in Ireland, which is currently dominated by Ryanair and Aer Lingus. Ryanair is working to win approval from the European Commission to buy Aer Lingus but the low-cost carrier has been told it needs to make concessions to ensure Irish air travel remains competitive. Mueller said he believed the proposed Flybe Ireland airline would fail to prevent Ryanair from monopolising the Irish market.

The group said Rothschild made sweeping statements about maximising value to repair Bumi's damage, but gave no detail on how he intends to achieve his goals. Bumi plc also slammed the businessman for making "numerous misleading claims about conflicts of interest when shareholders should instead be concerned with the conflict of interest faced by Mr. Rothschild himself". The Bakries and Rothschild came together in 2010 to bring Indonesian coal assets to the London market by reversing them into Vallar, Rothschild's listed investment vehicle, and renaming it Bumi Plc. However, company infighting has driven a wedge between the two and Rothschild stepped down from the board in October. In Wednesday's note to shareholders, Bumi Plc said Rothschild was in denial about the company's relationship with the Bakrie Group and the costly litigation his board will face if his resolutions are passed. The company concluded its statement by urging shareholders to vote against Rothschild's proposals.