National Australia Bank is understood to be planning a bid for the 600 branches that Lloyds Banking Group is being forced to sell, it was reported today.

The outgoing chief executive of British nationalised bank Northern Rock has bowed to pressure by waiving his salary, pension and benefits for the period of his gardening leave.

The FTSE 100 Index advanced almost 2% today as the International Monetary Fund’s upgrade of global growth prospects boosted sentiment.

Lloyd's of London today said it remained in good shape after the insurance market achieved a profit of £1.9bn (€2bn) for 2008.

Lloyd’s of London today announced a £3.8bn (€4.8bn) profit after the insurance market benefited from a limited exposure to catastrophes in 2007.

A low level of catastrophe claims helped the Lloyd’s of London insurance market announce a sharp improvement in profitability today.

An “exceptionally low” level of catastrophes enabled the Lloyd’s of London insurance market to announce profits of £3.66bn (€5.3bm) for 2006 today.

An “exceptionally low” level of catastrophes enabled the Lloyd’s of London insurance market to announce profits of £3.66bn (€5.4bn) for 2006 today.

The Lloyd’s of London insurance market limited annual losses to £103m (€146.8m) today following the worst year on record for natural disasters.

British supermarket chain Sainsbury’s today faced a storm of protest from shareholders over its decision to hand ousted chairman Peter Davis a £2.3m (€3.5m) share award.

Sainsbury’s has ousted chairman Peter Davis and said profit will drop for a second year as Britain’s third-largest supermarket chain loses ground to competitors, including Tesco.