United Utilities, the country’s biggest listed water company, showed today just why there is so much takeover interest in the sector with an 8.7 per cent jump in pre-tax profit to £304.7 million.

Brewer SABMiller today grabbed an bigger slice of a shrinking UK beer market and flagged up a major push for its Pilsner Urquell brand.

Two of the FTSE’s biggest bosses have banked rather different pay packets, it was revealed today.

The new City watchdog issued a statement of intent today, slapping a £3 million fine on JPMorgan’s wealth management arm.

The FTSE 100’s surge towards all-time highs was brought to a spectacular halt today as panicking investors dumped shares in a global sell-off.

Checkout staff at Tesco have seen their annual shares bonus pot halved after the supermarket giant slumped to its first annual profits fall in nearly 20 years.

Many managers barely survive a year in post. Martin Baker talks to experts who make a case for clubs using forensic business skills to find the best staff

The UK's return to growth was underlined today as revised figures confirmed the dominant services sector helped the economy expand by 0.3% in the first three months of the year.

Ben Bernanke struck a dovish tone yesterday as he told the US Congress that the Federal Reserve's extraordinary stimulus measures were "providing significant benefits" to the economy, although he said the central bank could "in the next few meetings" begin scaling back its programme of buying $85bn (£57bn) in bonds every month if labour market data showed signs of sustained improvement.

SSE, the Big Six energy provider, warned that customers should brace themselves for further price hikes as it reported a near 30 per cent rise in profits from its retail customers last year.

A social networking tool used by celebrities including Snoop Dogg and One Direction yesterday announced it has raised $10.7m (£7.1m) from the backers of Betfair and Lovefilm.

The uncertain future of the Yellow Pages directories publisher Hibu took yet another twist yesterday as the debt-laden company unexpectedly delayed its annual results.

Nationwide, Britain's biggest building society, grabbed its largest-ever share of the mortgage market last year and saw its profits jump as it continued to attract customers from discredited high street banks.

Labour says advice echoes its own longstanding call for the Chancellor to ease up on his cuts