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Bank loan warning hits JJB shares

JJB Sports storeJJB raised £100m to repay debts in October last year

JJB Sports has warned it is likely to breach conditions of loan agreements with its bank due to worse-than-expected sales in recent weeks.

The troubled retailer said trading conditions remained “extremely challenging” and would likely deteriorate due to the bad weather.

It said it was in “constructive discussions” with the Bank of Scotland over future financing of the business.

JJB has struggled with weak sales during the downturn.

It was forced to raise £100m in a rights issue in October last year.

“In light of continued difficult trading conditions, the company believes that it is likely that it will breach certain financial covenants in the £25m revolving facility provided by Bank of Scotland when they are next tested at the end of January 2011,” JJB said.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Qantas takes legal action on A380

Engine of Qantas A380 after emergency landing in Singapore, 4 November 2010The engine explosion on one of the A380s sparked a global safety review

Air safety investigators in Australia say they have identified a serious manufacturing fault with engines fitted to Airbus A380 passenger jets.

A misaligned component of the Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engine used on a Qantas A380 which exploded last month thinned the wall of an oil pipe.

This caused “fatigue cracking”, which prompted leakage and ultimately a fire.

The investigators warned that the critical safety issue could potentially lead to “catastrophic engine failure”.

“This condition could lead to an elevated risk of fatigue crack initiation and growth, oil leakage and potential catastrophic engine failure from a resulting oil fire,” the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said.

It said the problem was “understood to be related to the manufacturing process.”

It urged Rolls-Royce to “address the safety issue and take actions necessary to ensure the safety of flight operations in transport aircraft equipped with Rolls-Royce Trent 900 series engines.”

Qantas said it would conduct further engine investigations as a precautionary measure, but stressed that there was “no immediate risk”.

“Qantas currently has two A380 aircraft in operational service, following the grounding of the fleet on 4 November. Both A380 aircraft will be inspected at the Qantas Jet Base in Sydney,” the airline said.

Airbus A380World’s biggest passenger jet, with two full-length decksCan carry up to 800 passengersCan fly 15,200 km (9,424 miles)First commercial flight October 2007Length 73m (238ft)Wingspan 80m (262ft)Current operators (Rolls-Royce engine): Qantas (6 planes); Singapore (11); Lufthansa (3)Current operators (Engine Alliance engine): Air France (4); Emirates (13)Factfile: Airbus A380 Spotlight on Airbus and Roll-Royce

The pilots of the November flight made a successful emergency landing in Singapore after one of the engines exploded in mid-air.

Singapore Airlines, which also uses A380s with the Rolls-Royce engine, says it is already checking its fleet “on a daily basis”.

“The new checks advised by the ATSB will be carried out as quickly as possible,” the airline said in a statement.

Qantas Flight QF32 experienced an engine failure over western Indonesia, before safely returning to Changi airport. It was carrying 440 passengers and 26 crew.

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said at the time of the emergency landing that it appeared the blowout was “an engine issue” and not one of maintenance on the two-year-old plane.

It was the most serious incident involving the twin-deck A380 superjumbo passenger plane in its three years of service.

Not all A380s use Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines. They are used on 20 aircraft owned by Qantas, Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines.

The other A380 aircraft – with Air France and Emirates – use a different engine.

The double-decker A380 is the world’s largest passenger airliner, and can carry up to 800 people. The six Qantas A380s carry about 475.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Football violence ‘like warzone’

A flare being let off in the groundA flare was thrown back and forth between the two sets of fans
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A fan has described the violence that erupted after a Carling Cup match between Birmingham City and local rivals Aston Villa as “like a warzone”.

Five people were arrested and 27 hurt after City fans invaded the pitch following their side’s 2-1 victory.

Aston Villa fans responded by throwing a flare and ripping up plastic seats at City’s St Andrews ground.

Villa fan Rob, from Cheltenham, told BBC Five Live his 11-year-old son was repeatedly spat at during the violence.

He said: “There was a lot of trouble before the game.

“The scenes were really disgraceful.

“My 11-year-old son was spat at repeatedly and there was CS gas used against the police – we were told that by a lady officer on the way out of the ground.

“It’s a bit of a warzone really.”

Alex McLeish

McLeish “worried” after fan invasion

A pub outside the ground and parked cars were also vandalised following the quarter-final game.

The trouble came hours before the vote to decide if England will host the 2018 World Cup.

Birmingham City and the FA have said they are investigating the disorder.

The club described the violence as “disappointing” and said officials would be meeting later to investigate the matter further.

Manager Alex McLeish said it threatened to bring English football “back to the dark ages” but said he did not think it would affect England’s bid to host the World Cup.

West Midlands Ambulance Service said casualties suffered head and leg injuries.

“Twenty four of those were treated in the ground,” a spokesman said.

“Those treated suffered a variety of injuries to their head, leg and arms.

“Of these, two men were taken to hospital; one, a 43-year-old man, was initially unconscious after suffering a head injury. The other man had a leg injury.

“Three other men were treated by ambulance staff before being taken to hospital.”

Supt Steve Graham, from West Midlands Police, told BBC News they got the fans off the pitch within about 10 minutes of the game ending but said some “innocent parties” would have been injured outside the ground.

“Sadly, there was then sporadic disorder (outside the ground),” he said.

“It was mindless, it was inexcusable.

“Some innocent parties would have been injured by those mindless thugs outside.”

The FA said it “wholly condemned” the actions of those involved.

The last time Birmingham City and Aston Villa were allowed to play each other in an evening game was seven years ago.

Following clashes between supporters during the 2002-03 season, West Midlands Police insisted all future derbies be played on a Sunday lunchtime.

The Carling Cup draw led to that rule being waived for this game.

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This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

OFT warns on ‘misleading’ offers

Shop sale sign
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The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has warned retailers about tricking customers with misleading price offers.

In a report issued on Thursday, the OFT vowed to take action against High Street and online firms which break the law by not making price offers clear.

One practice the OFT is worried about is “drip” pricing, where compulsory costs, such as delivery charges, are added during the buying process.

But the British Retail Consortium said any new legislation would be pointless.

Other practices the OFT said it was concerned about were time-limited offers such as “offer ends today”, and the advertising of “sale” products with only very limited stock in order lure customers through the door.

The OFT said such promotions were no unlawful, but could be against customers’ interests.

The regulator said it obtained its information from consumer surveys, focus groups, psychology literature and “groundbreaking behavioural economics research”.

There was plenty of evidence that certain pricing techniques can lead consumers into buying decisions they would not have made were prices more clearly advertised, the regulator said.

John Fingleton, OFT chief executive, said: “It’s an important issue because it affects all of us as consumers, but it’s also important because it affects how markets work across the British economy.

“Today we are urging businesses to review their pricing practices in the light of our report and we will, where necessary, take enforcement action against firms that don’t have their house in order.”

However, retailers said customers were a savvy bunch who knew when they were being mislead.

Tom Ironside, BRC Director of Business and Regulation, said: “Customers aren’t stupid. They make sophisticated judgements about prices and value within stores, between stores and over time and have all the information they need to do that.

“Discounts and promotions are part of our highly competitive retail market and customers benefit from them,” he said.

The BRC said that there are currently a record number of promotional deals on offer, at a time when household budgets are feeling the squeeze.

Latest figures show 37% of fast-moving consumer goods are on some sort of promotion or discount at the moment, which the BRC said is an all-time high.

Mr Ironside said: “BRC members abide by the rules and regulations governing price advertising. They want satisfied customers who come back again and again.

“They would have nothing to gain from attempts to mislead and any extra legislation or over enforcement on this issue would therefore be pointless.”

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.