In Brief: Boeing on track; LoveFilm beats rivals; Apple makes it Snappy; News Corp on the move; Bullish Bentley; Clarksons ahead for year; Profits bubble up for Lush

Boeing on track to keep biggest plane-maker title

Boeing has revealed record deliveries and orders for 2013, putting it on track to remain the world’s largest plane-maker for a second year in a row.

The US company delivered 648 commercial planes last year and had 5,080 unfulfilled orders. It is likely to have beaten rival Airbus, which will reveal its 2013 orders next week.

LoveFilm beats TV  rivals with ‘Vikings’ raid

Amazon’s video on demand website LoveFilm has beaten established British TV broadcasters to buy up the rights to the second series of US drama series Vikings. LoveFilm, which snapped up the exclusive rights from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television, will broadcast Vikings from next month.

Apple makes it Snappy with Aussie app deal

Apple has bought app company Snappy Labs for an undisclosed amount. The Australian company’s Snappycam app allows iPhones to do “burst photography”, taking lots of shots in a second. Founder John Papandriopoulos will work on new developments for Apple.

News Corp on the move with 30-year HQ lease

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp will move to London Bridge this summer as it signs a 30-year lease for the The Place. The building  will house News UK,  owner of The Times,  The Sunday Times and  The Sun newspapers, as well as Dow Jones and publisher HarperCollins.

Bullish Bentley puts his own money into CWC

The new Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) chief executive, Phil Bentley, cheered the City with a bullish outlook for the new year and has backed that up by buying £2.4m worth of shares in the telecoms firm.

The former British Gas managing director told investors his aims were “driving top line growth, continuing cost discipline, increasing returns on capital and improving customer service”.

Strong December puts Clarksons ahead for year

The shipping firm Clarksons has hailed a “particularly strong” December as it said its full-year figures would beat market forecasts. The company said that while “global shipping markets continue to be challenging”, its sale and purchase business had been “performing exceptionally well”. Shares in Clarksons – which is due to announce its full-year results in March – rose 8 per cent to 2,174p.

Lush customers help bubble up profits

Lush has seen a boost in sales as customers spent more on personalised gifts. Underlying sales at the soap maker jumped 12.2 per cent in the five weeks to 29 December, with sales in North America up 21 per cent. Sales for the year to end of June were up 11.3 per cent to £362.9m thanks to 78 new stores. But profits fell 16 per cent to £21.9m as the company increased its charitable donations.

Video: Boeing, Flydubai announce order worth $8.8 billion