Health and beauty chain Boots geared up for its merger with Alliance UniChem by posting annual profits slightly ahead of expectations today.

Household cleaning goods company Reckitt Benckiser forecast another strong year today as it posted record results driven by products such as Cillit Bang and Vanish.

British retailer Boots has lined up a shortlist of six in the £1.2bn auction of its Nurofen-to-Clearasil business, it was reported today.