In the News...

JOHN LEWIS MAKES A PROFIT

John Lewis' profits rose by 20%, or £61.3m, to £367.9m last year but 2011 may be very difficult.

Chairman Charlie Mayfield described the figures for the year ending 29 January as a "strong performance". But he said 2011 would see the impact of higher VAT, rising unemployment, and higher food and raw material costs.

Staff at the employee-owned partnership will each receive a bonus worth an average of more than nine weeks' pay. The 76,500 staff will share a bonus of £194.5m, with bonuses worth 18% of partners' salary.

TOYOTA TARGET 10 MILLION SALES
Japanese carmaker Toyota has said it is aiming for global sales of 10 million vehicles a year by 2015, compared with 8.7 million in 2010.

The company is also targeting annual operating profit of 1 trillion yen ($12bn; £7.4bn) "as soon as possible".

CHINA TO INVEST $200 BILLION IN HOUSING PROJECTS
China will build 10 million low-cost homes this year at a cost of $200bn (£124bn), a government minister has said.

The move comes as soaring home prices spur complaints about affordability.
In January, prices of new homes rose in 68 of the 70 cities monitored by the government compared to a year earlier.

The spending is a part of a commitment to construct 36 million low-cost homes over the next five years.

CREDIT CARD FRAUD FALLS IN THE UK
Fraud losses on UK credit and debit cards fell to the lowest level for a decade in 2010 as awareness of the issue increased.

The amount lost still reached £365.4m, but this was 17% lower than the previous year, the UK Cards Association said.

The biggest drop was in the amount lost through cloned or skimmed cards, which fell by 41%.
But the amount lost through cards being intercepted in the mail was up 22%.

EDINBURGH AIRPORT PREPARES FOR WINTER 2011
At least £1.5m of equipment has been ordered to help keep Edinburgh Airport open during heavy snow next winter.

BAA Scotland airside and autonomy director David Lister announced the move at the Scottish Parliament's transport committee on Tuesday.

Mr Lister said that extensive studies had been carried out at airports in various countries to find ways of remaining open during extreme weather. The airport was closed several times in December and January due to snow.

PRESTWICK AIRPORT LOSE 40% OF PASSENGER TRAFFIC
Prestwick Airport has suffered a sharp decline in passenger numbers this winter, down by 40% in recent months.

Since Ryanair cut back on its winter schedule, the Ayrshire airport has shed about 40 staff, out of more than 400, some by compulsory redundancy.

The air hub has been boosted by bad winter weather, forcing diversions from snow-bound inland airports. But that has been overshadowed by Ryanair focusing traffic from north and central Europe on Edinburgh.

Domestic traffic has fallen steeply, and there are fewer flights linking to Stansted. Passenger traffic in January fell to 61,000 from 103,000 in January 2010. In the previous two years, passengers for that month were at 131,000 and 145,000.

Source: BBC News