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Ryanair to become first airline to fly to Spain’s ghost airport: Ryanair is set to become the first airline to operate scheduled flights from the Spanish “ghost airport” of Castellón.

Menzies hit by Heathrow terminal closures: John Menzies said profits in the year ahead will be hit by the costs of dealing with the closure of terminals at Heathrow, as the airport services and newspaper distribution group reported a slump in annual pretax profits linked to “operational difficulties” at the U.K.’s largest airport. The Edinburgh-based company, one of the largest in Scotland, said the issues at Heathrow - which saw terminals closed during redevelopment - were now largely resolved but will continue to weigh on results during the first half of this year. The news sent the shares more than 5% lower. The airport services part of the company, which helps passengers, luggage and cargo to get on and off aircraft, is employing more staff at Heathrow to maintain a good service during the redevelopment. The “ground handling” division reported a 45% slump in operating profits during the 12 months to the end of December, despite a 4% increase in revenues after the firm won more contracts. The problems in the aviation division have already claimed Craig Smyth, Managing Director of Menzies Aviation, who left after a profit warning in November last year. ‘Annual results showed just how painful the difficulties in the aviation division had been, as they dragged the group’s reported pretax profits down by 40% to £25.7 million, from £42.1 million a year earlier. Menzies delivered group revenue that was flat at £2 billion. The risk to anyone considering Menzies’ shares is the £111 million net debt pile, up from £104 million in 2013, and the £59 million pension deficit, up £13 million, which stands against shareholders equity of just £69.7 million. Anyone buying the stock could be left with nothing if the debts can’t be serviced or repaid. At the moment that is not a problem, as the company generates plenty of cash and covers interest payments more than eight times. That said, things are getting tighter and broker Peel Hunt downgraded profit forecasts in the year ahead by 5%. Questor will wait until we have more evidence of take-off. John Menzies at 385p-22.25p. Questor says ‘Hold”.

Hill & Smith shares still too cheap: Questor is surprised the shares in Hill & Smith didn’t make greater gains after it reported record annual profits and said the outlook in its major markets was good for the year ahead. Brokers from Peel Hunt and Investec upgraded the profit forecasts for the U.K. galvanised steel products manufacturer by about 5% and now expect pretax profits in the region of £51 million. This gives earnings per share of 48.1p on revenue of £472.2 million in the 12 months to the end of December. The market seems to have missed the confident tone in the update. Hill & Smith said profits increased across all divisions last year. The galvanising operations, which is the largest contributor to group profits, saw profits rise 5% to £26.7 million, on revenue up 3%, last year. Demand was driven by the Government pledging to spend more on the U.K.’s road network, and from utility companies across the U.S. and U.K.. The balance sheet looks solid, with net debt of £96 million at the end of December, up from £87.5 million a year earlier, as the company expands. Cash generation is excellent, with the £12.4 million in dividends covered 3.3 times by net operating cashflow. The company increased dividends by 13% to 18p, with the final going ex-dividend on May 27 and paid July 3. We said the shares were “too cheap” at 523p in August last year, and so it proved. The shares, trading on 12.4 times earnings, are a buy. Hill & Smith at 603p+4.5p. Questor says “Buy”.

Opec signals oil price war set to continue: Opec’s Gulf oil producers have signalled that the cartel will persist with its current price war strategy when it gathers to decide on production quotas in June

Pru’s Wells fields a perilous pass: Tidjane Thiam, Chief Executive of Prudential, has every reason for jubilation. A gruelling struggle had been rewarded with a notable triumph. His beloved Arsenal knocked Manchester United out of the FA Cup on Monday night. Oh, and by the way, he is getting a new job, too. The ambitious French-Ivorian will be the next Chief Executive of Credit Suisse. It is a mistake to lead the same team for too long, he said, in a veiled dig at Arsenal Boss Arsène Wenger. Mr Thiam was meanwhile alive to the innuendo that he has executed a “hospital pass” — in sporting parlance, passing the ball to a teammate set to collide with the opposition. It is reasonable to harbour that suspicion when a Chief Executive chooses his own time to depart. More so when results are as sparkling as Prudential’s 2014 numbers. Net cash remittances were 11% higher at £1.48 billion. In under just six years, Mr Thiam has delivered a shareholder return of 230% by focusing on cash and Asia’s growing middle class.

Prudential: baton pass: Investors in Prudential marked down the U.K. life insurer’s shares by more than 2%, despite tidy 2014 results, when they learned its Chief Executive had been lured away by Credit Suisse. A change of leadership at Prudential these days raises the fear that his successor might fiddle with Tidjane Thiam’s proven model. It was not always so. Roll back to Prudential’s abortive 2010 attempt to buy AIA, the Asian operations of U.S. insurer AIG, and some investors were disgruntled with Mr Thiam. But he has confounded doubters since, proving that the company can grow in Asia even without dealmaking. ‘s investors have little quibble with his strategic direction. The near-tripling of Prudential’s share price under his tutelage suggests as much. Yet he leaves as the opening chapter of Prudential’s Asia growth narrative is still unfolding. It has barely scratched the surface of the potential of Asia’s middle classes. It has 700,000 clients in China, versus 7 million in the U.K.. Fertile territory for Mr Thiam’s successor, who will inherit a well-oiled machine. But economic growth in China is not what it was and the slowdown in Asia is starting to show through. Prudential’s operating profit from the region rose 5% in 2014. At constant exchange rates that would have been a more impressive 16%, but even that is 4% points lower than the growth rate in 2013. At least a tie-up with Standard Chartered is going great guns — sales from that deal in the second half of 2014 were up a third on a year earlier.

Digital economy transforms U.K. workforce: The transformation of the workforce is rapidly expanding beyond London as the U.K. embraces the digital economy, with about 1.8 million people — 6% of workers — now employed in a type of job that did not even exist in 1990.

Russia downturn takes toll on car sales: Car sales plunged 38% in Russia last month compared with the same period a year ago in a fresh sign of the economy’s deterioration as it hurtles towards recession

Chevron expects sharp slowdown in output growth at end of decade: Chevron, the U.S. oil group, expects a sharp slowdown in its production growth towards the end of the decade as it cuts investment in response to the fall in oil prices.

G4S writes off £45 million for asylum deal as it swings back into profit: G4S showed it’s suffering from the Government’s struggles with border control as spiralling numbers of asylum seekers contributed to the scandal-struck security giant being forced to set aside £45 million to pay for state contracts

U.S. chief to lead Prudential as Tidjane Thiam quits for Credit Suisse: The head of Prudential’s U.S. business has been lined up to replace Tidjane Thiam as the FTSE 100 insurer’s new Chief Executive

Domino could fall to Japanese rival for £1 billion: A FTSE 250 printing technology company could fall to a foreign buyer in a deal worth close to £1 billion.

Mansion tax could hit affordable housing: A mansion tax would lead to developers in London building fewer affordable homes, according to the Deputy Mayor of London.

Grangemouth Owner turns up heat on shale gas exploration: Ineos is to search for shale gas near its Grangemouth plant in Scotland as part of Britain’s biggest fracking deal to date.

At 0430GMT today, Brent crude oil one month futures contract is trading 0.83% or $0.47 higher at $56.86 per barrel, ahead of the Energy Information Administration weekly oil inventory data to be released later today. Yesterday, the contract declined 3.66% or $2.14, to settle at $56.39 per barrel, after the US Dollar strengthened against other major currencies, weighing on the commodity. Meanwhile, the American Petroleum Institute reported that US crude oil stockpiles shrank by 404,000 barrels in the week ended March 6.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- The U.S. Energy Information Administration lowered its forecasts for West Texas Intermediate crude prices in a monthly report issued Tuesday. The government agency said it expects WTI prices to average $52.15 a barrel this year. It previously forecast a 2015 average of $55.02. The EIA also said it expects WTI crude to average $70 a barrel in 2016, compared with a previous forecast for $71. U.S. crude-oil production is expected to average 9.3 million barrels per day this year and climb to 9.5 million barrels per day in 2016 - close to the 9.6 million barrels per day highest annual average level of U.S. production in 1970, the government report said

LONDON, March 10 (Reuters) - Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said on Tuesday it would be "extremely foolish" to use more monetary stimulus to fight a temporary plunge in British inflation caused by declining oil prices. Carney said British consumer price inflation would likely fall to around zero in the coming months and stay there for much of the rest of the year, having already hit its lowest level on record in January at 0.3 percent. "The thing that would be extremely foolish would be to try to lean against this oil price fall today," Carney told a panel of lawmakers in Britain's parliament. "(That's) because the impact of that extra stimulus .... would happen well after the oil price fall had moved through the economy and we would just add unnecessary volatility." While the BoE has said it expects its next move on monetary policy will be to raise interest rates, it has also said it might cut them further below their record low of 0.5 percent if very low inflation becomes self-reinforcing. The BoE is mandated by the government to keep inflation at 2 percent, a target some economists have questioned. Carney said that in theory, the inflation target could be changed in response to a prolonged supply shock -- such as one caused by big technological advances -- that would be positive for productivity. "But that is a sober adjustment that's made by parliament, the government over time, through public debate, as opposed to a reaction to temporary deviations in inflation," he added. Carney reiterated his view that Britain's housing market presented one of the biggest risks to financial stability. He also said he hadn't yet seen signs that lending standards had worsened for buy-to-let property investors, following the government's decision to allow pensioners free rein to reinvest their retirement funds from April. (Writing by Andy Bruce, reporting by London Bureau; editing by William Schomberg/Ruth Pitchford)

British clothing designer Ted Baker has sashayed into interior design services via a deal with a property group set up by chief executive and founder Ray Kelvin, called THAT Bournemouth Company. The deal, worth £250,000, will see Ted Baker provide a trademark licence and design services for the development of apartments in Bournemouth, designing the interior of 15 luxury apartments in the town. Kelvin is the major shareholder in THAT, which was set up five years ago and has the same registered address as Ted Baker, while Lindsay Page, the group's finance chief is also a shareholder and co-founder director.

The UK's economic recovery may be "bypassing the retail sector," according to a report from the British Retail Consortium and accountants KPMG. Like-for-like sales fell 0.1% between December and February, according to their report. Food sales dropped 1.6% while non-food goods rose 1.2% in the same period. In a separate study, Kantar Worldpanel found that the cost of groceries has declined by 1.6%, which is the fastest rate on record. Grocery prices have fallen due to an ongoing price war among the UK's biggest supermarkets. This has led to a fall in like-for-like food sales. Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's, Morrison's and the Co-operative have all seen their shares of the market decline, says Kantar. Waitrose, Aldi and Lidl have increased their market shares.

Prudential continue to believe that Asia represents their greatest opportunity for future growth. The geographic spread of their operations across multiple Asian nations gives them a degree of diversity and resilience, even when individual countries present short-term challenges. In the US, Prudential will continue to focus on serving the needs of the 77 million baby boomers approaching retirement, through the sale of variable annuities and other products targeting the ageing population, whilst focusing on distributable cash flow. In the UK the life market faces the challenges of low long term interest rates and a major structural reform of the pensions and annuity market places. The company believes this will lead to additional opportunities for both its Life and Asset Management (M&G) businesses over time. Commenting on the outlook for the wider group, the company said: "We remain confident in our ability to produce profitable growth over the long term and to continue to create value for our customers and shareholders".