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BT takes battle to Sky by offering free European football to its own TV customers: BT has launched a fresh assault on Sky by offering free European football to its own TV customers.

Energy Assets still a buy: Smart gas and electricity meter company Energy Assets, reported rising revenue, profits and cash generation in its annual results and there is every reason for the success to continue. New contracts were signed during the year in the Data Services division, which analysis energy uses and offers advice to cut bills, and this increased profits by 47%. The Siteworks part of the business, which provides engineering advice on meter installation, had a very strong year with revenue up 77% to £12.9 million and profits up 41%. Energy Assets increased cash generated from operations by 34% during the year to £20 million, and reinvested all of this to grow the company. Acquisitions in the year increased net debts by £14 million, to £65 million, and that is against net assets of £36.5 million. The shares are up £1 since we last recommended them (Buy, 475p, April 17) and have almost doubled since we first liked the prospects (Buy, 317p, October 4, 2013) trading on 20 times forecast earnings, falling to 15 times next year we would still hold onto them for further growth. Energy Assets at 578p +14.5p. Questor Says “Buy”.

RPC shares for long term growth: RPC’s shares are looking cheap after the plastic packaging group reported better-than-expected profits and said it would make larger savings from a recent acquisition. The FTSE 250-listed company is seeing higher sales from new products such as disposable coffee capsules and plastic paint containers, as the U.K. housing boom boosts DIY. Total group revenue increased by 17% to £1.22 billion in the 12 months to the end of March, while pretax profits increased by 14% to £67.1 million. Because RPC has a March financial year end, next year’s results should benefit from a whole year of trading following the Promens deal. Market consensus is for group revenue to increase by 40% to £1.7 billion, and adjusted pretax profits to jump 28% to £153 million. In the long run RPC is able to pass these price rises onto consumers, but in the short term it will drag on profits in the first half. Questor thought the shares looked cheap following the Promens deal (580p, November 28) and since then investors have enjoyed gains of 10%. The savings from the deal are ahead of schedule and we are comfortable retaining our initial advice. RPC at 634.5p +16.5p. Questor Says “Buy”.

Virgin Atlantic pushes regulators to examine Aer Lingus deal: Virgin Atlantic has urged authorities to examine International Airlines Group’s €1.4 billion (£1.03 billion) takeover of Aer Lingus to ensure the deal does not harm competition.

Saudi Arabia says it’s pumping more oil to meet higher demand: Oil prices have risen sharply after Saudi Arabia’s oil ministry issued a rare statement refuting press reports that it was pumping more crude simply to take share in a declining market.

Pets at Home: shares rehoused: On Tuesday, private equity firm KKR sold 108 million shares (half its stake) in Pets At Home, the retailer it listed in March 2014. This is the latest in a series of U.K. disposals by private equity groups. Initial public offerings backed by private equity houses were a big feature of the U.K. stock market in 2014. They accounted for 65% of all IPO money raised last year, according to PwC. Post-IPO restrictions on the sale of shares are not compulsory in the U.K., as they are in some markets, but they are a common feature of share offers backed by private equity firms. Typically the company and selling shareholders are barred from further share sales for 120 days, unless the bank underwriting the IPO specifically grants permission for such sales. That is to be expected. Investors know a private equity firm is always going to want a full exit eventually. Perhaps greater significance should be attached to Directors’ share sales, since their commitment to the company should be longer term. A study of 580 IPOs over 16 years by professors Wasim Ahmad and Ranko Jelic found that locking in Managers for longer periods did improve long-term survival of newly listed companies.

Just Eat? Just tap water: One of the few advantages of being the Owner of an Ottoman-Empire themed fast food outlet is never having to gauge demand — thanks to the near inexhaustibility of gently sweating kebab meat on the ubiquitous vertical rotisserie. Conversely, one of the great challenges of becoming a client of these eateries is accurately gauging appetite — thanks to the intoxicating nature of the traditional pre-dinner aperitifs. As a consequence, the former needs to take relatively few risks, while the latter is ever in danger of waking up to a less than welcome discovery. Just Eat was at pains to stress that 43% of its shareholders were already on an enforced diet: as private equity investors, they were not allowed to buy more of a publicly traded company. Others had gained so much since the flotation that their portfolios already had their fill. Nevertheless, the fact that 17% who could have taken up the offer chose not to suggests some caution toward the sector. Just Eat paid 371 times earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation for Menulog — a price that assumes rapid growth in market share, fees and margins at a time of increasing competition. This may explain why some shareholders — like prudent revellers on a Saturday night — opted for dilution over further indulgence.

Anil Agarwal plans merger of Vedanta units to reduce debt: Indian billionaire Anil Agarwal is readying plans to cut debts at his London-listed Vedanta Resources conglomerate by merging its cash-rich energy division with its struggling resources arm, according to people familiar with the plans

Collapse in oil price to curb Canada’s long-term output growth: The collapse in crude prices will pinch Canada’s long-term oil output growth by more than a million barrels a day, highlighting the lasting impact of energy companies’ capital spending cuts, said an industry group in the world’s fifth-largest producer

Anglo American slips on restructuring worries: Anglo American hit a six-year low on Tuesday on growing worries about the slow pace of its restructuring plan.

Bill Winters facing four key challenges at Standard Chartered: Bill Winters, the former JPMorgan Chase banker turned regulatory adviser, dons a new cap on Wednesday — as Chief Executive of emerging markets bank Standard Chartered. He starts in the job just as his old friend, Anshu Jain, is leaving the equivalent role at Deutsche Bank

Permission for green belt homes doubles in a year: The number of new homes approved in the green belt has more than doubled in a year despite government promises that it would be protected.

Tougher testing rules delay fracking: Fracking is to be delayed for at least another year because of new rules that require 12 months of testing of groundwater before shale gas is extracted.

UK total trade deficit dropped in April Total trade deficit in the UK dropped to £1.20 billion in April, from a revised total trade deficit of £3.09 billion in the prior month. Markets were expecting the country's total trade deficit to narrow to £2.60 billion

At 0330GMT today, Brent crude oil one month futures contract is trading 0.49% or $0.32 higher at $65.20 per barrel, ahead of the Energy Information Administration weekly oil inventory data, scheduled to be released later today. Yesterday, the contract climbed 3.49% or $2.19, to settle at $64.88 per barrel, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) raised its WTI price projections for 2015. In addition, the American Petroleum Institute reported that crude oil stockpiles in the US fell 6.7 million barrels last week. However, the EIA also increased its production outlook for this year.

Media reports say metals and mining firm Vedanta is close to merging its oil and gas unit with itself to get access to Cairn India's cash and help reduce debt. ** Vedanta had standalone net debt of 367.96 billion rupees ($5.75 billion) as of March 31. ** Companies in final stages of discussions and process would be completed by March 2016 - reports ** "Cairn India's market cap is now near to cash plus the loan given to Vedanta earlier. It seems like a negative for Cairn India and positive for cash-starved Vedanta," said G. Chokkalingam, founder of Equinomics, a Mumbai-based research and fund advisory firm. ($1 = 63.9800 Indian rupees

Qatar CEO: industry must repudiate campaign against Gulf carriers: The Chief Executive of Qatar Airways on Monday demanded the industry repudiate a campaign against the Gulf carriers by U.S. airlines, in a move that highlighted how these Middle East companies have become a powerful disruptive force in global aviation

IAG Chief raises concerns over airlines’ costs: The Chief Executive of IAG, the parent of British Airways, has warned of possible legal action after expressing concern that limited competition might be keeping prices for aircraft, engines and maintenance services artificially high

Iraq to form special ‘oil army’ to fend off Isil threat: Iraq is mobilising a 27,000 strong army of security personnel to protect its oil and energy facilities from attacks by Islamic State insurgents

Pets At Home’s biggest shareholder to slash stake: Pets At Home’s biggest shareholder is to almost halve its stake in the business in a share sale worth £300 million at current prices.