The planned merger, between British Airways and Spanish carrier Iberia Lineas Aereas de Espana SA, which is expected to get regulatory backing and be concluded by the end of next year, will create the world’s third largest airline.

According to Willie Walsh, British Airways (BA) chief executive the planned merger with Iberia is "great news for British Airways, our customers and our shareholders". His comments came after British Airways Plc agreed to the $7 billion merger ending more than a year of talks on a tie-up, largely aimed at fighting a slump in travel and closing the gap with competitors.

Under the all-share deal, British Airways investors will own about 55 percent of the business. The merger due to be completed by late 2010 is still subject to cancellation by Iberia if BA fails to resolve their pressing pension deficit issues.

UK engineering firm Rolls-Royce have announced that they have been awarded contracts to produce aircraft engines to the value of £1.2 billion, The engines will be used to power Airbus planes for Air China and Ethiopian Airlines. Rolls Royce made the announcement the first day of the Dubai Airshow on Sunday. The engines are scheduled to be delivered in stages from 2011 to 2017.

According to representatives from one of the UK’s most powerful unions, Unite, the leading banks have still to absorb the reasons behind the current credit crisis, and continue to set unrealistic sales targets for their staff in order for them to earn their salaries. Instead they continue to apply pressure

On staff to promote financial products, often to those who can ill afford them.

The union says that legislation forcing banks to pay theory staff higher basic salaries and placing less emphasis on bonuses should be implemented. The new breed of British bank should instead focus on high standards of customer service and pay fair wages for all staff. The British government will announce legislation next week giving regulators the power to stop bankers from pocketing big bonuses that could destabilize the financial system, a newspaper reported Saturday. Treasury chief Alistair Darling told the Sunday Telegraph that the new Financial Services Bill will allow financial watchdogs to cancel pay packages that reward undue risk-taking. The bill is due to be announced Wednesday as part of the Queen’s Speech, in which the government lays out its plans for the next session of Parliament.

Darling was quoted as saying that the legislation would give the Financial Services Authority the power to cancel contracts that breach a banking remuneration code agreed by the Group of 20 nations earlier this year. The regulator could fine banks that fail to comply.

Liberty International, the U.K.’s biggest shopping-center owner, added 3.9 percent to 504 pence. British Land, the U.K.’s second-largest real estate investment trust, rallied 2.8 percent to 498.2 pence. Land Securities Group Plc, the largest real estate investment trust, added 2.3 percent to 726.5 pence.

Investment Property Databank Ltd. today said the average value of U.K. stores, offices and warehouses rose 1.9 percent in October, a third month of gains, and the steepest advance since December 2005.

The total return for commercial real estate, which measures the change in capital values and rental income, rose by 2.5 percent in October.

U.K. supermarkets are getting a record amount of sales from promotions as they attempt to lure shoppers before the holiday season. At big supermarkets, 35 percent of sales by value are on promotion, compared with 26 percent a year ago. This year’s level is a record high

Recent figures released show a continued improvement in recruitment activity in October, within the UK financial services sector. Job offers in the month increased by approximately 4%, which is accredited to a significant increase in recruitment activity by stock brokers. On the downside, investment banks are reported to be reducing their intake of new people.

Sterling retreated on Friday before the strengthening dollar, gaining only against the Yen.

• Pound/US dollar 1.6668
• Pound/Euro 1.1201
• Pound/Japanese Yen 149.3497
• Pound/Swiss Franc 1.6883

The FTSE closed at a 14-month high, aided by gains in property shares. At end of trading Friday the guide was up 20 points to 5,296.55. The FTSE 250 also rose, up 83 points to 9,373.74.

It is now official- The French and German economies, the Eurozone’s two largest, are out of recession.

Figures recently release show that both economies show both grew between July and September, Germany by 0.7% and France by 0.3%. However, both the French and German economies grew by less than analysts had expected.

Lagging behind is the UK, still apparently bogged down in their longest economic contraction since World War II.

Recent figures show that the US trade deficit unexpectedly widened by the largest amount in 10 years in September.

The trade gap, the difference between US imports and exports, grew 18.2% to $36.5 billion (£21.9 billion) from August.

Imports or the same period rose by 5.8%, the strongest increase since 1993, providing yet another indication that consumer spending is recovering.

The Dow Jones made a late rally on Friday, closing for the weekend up 52.30 points to 10280.22. The NASDAQ was seen to be holding its own, up just three points 2160.96.

Hewlett-Packard has announced that they are to acquire the 3Com company for $2.7 billion. A spokesman for HP projected that the acquisition will give HP an added edge in the data centre networking sector. The deal will give HP capabilities in a number of areas in which the company was lacking, he said. Both 3Com and HP have been strong in the small and mid-size business networking space, However analysts predict that the addition of 3Com to their stable will create for HP an enterprise data switch portfolio to better compete with main rivals, Cisco.

Leaders of the 21 nation Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation group(Apec) who are meeting have gathered in Singapore for the annual meeting of the have proclaimed that Asia is leading the world out of recession. Their claims may be backed by the announcement last month from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that the Asian economy is expected to grow by 2.75% in 2009 and 5.75% in 2010. These projections compare very well with the flat to negative growth in the US and Western Europe. Statistics which can be seen to reflect the shifting balance of power between the US and Asia.

Gold prices were receding before the weekend, after rising above the $1,100 mark in the previous session. On the other hand crude oil prices were steadying after dropping more than $2 a barrel, which analysts interpreted as being because of fears of reduced US demand.

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Tags: 3Com, Alistair Darling, Apec, Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation group, BA merger, Bank, Banking, British airways, British Economy, British government, British Land, British Pound, Cisco, Credit Crunch, Crude oil, Currency, Dow Jones, Economics, Economy, Employment, Financial News, Financial Services Authority, Financial Services Bill, FTSE, Gold, Hewlett-Packard, HP, Iberia, Iberia Lineas Aereas de Espana SA, International Monetary Fund, Investment Property Databank Ltd, Land Securities Group Plc, Liberty International, Money, Money Markets, NASDAQ, Queen's Speech, Recession, Retail, Rolls-Royce, Stock Markets, Stocks and shares, UK Economy, UK government, UK Recession, Unite, Willie Walsh

It appears that post-recession Britain has set its sights on being a leader in energy power in Europe. The feeling was strengthened in a statement released by the Department for Energy and Climate Change announcing that interested parties are now invited to bid for access to the Marine Renewables Proving Fund, the formation of which was originally announced in July of this year. The UK government has invited marine-energy firms to bid for a share of the £22 million fund, intended to stimulate the development of clean green renewable energy technology in the UK.

According to energy and climate change minister Lord Hunt, the scope for generating wave and tidal energy around the UK’s shores is massive. The government intends to work closely with local developers to further the goals of the necessary technologies.

"The Proving Fund will help marine projects get off the drawing board and into the water, taking them a vital step closer to full-scale commercial viability." Lord Hunt pointed out.

The fund is due to be overseen by the Carbon Trust, a unit formed in 2003 to act as the UK government’s climate-change advisory body. To date, the Carbon Trust has assessed around 60 different marine-energy harvesting devices and earmarked over £12 million in funding for the sector.

Earlier this month, the Carbon Trust announced that they intend to fund two marine-energy companies, Pelamis Wave Power and Marine Current Turbines, as part of its existing Marine Energy Accelerator initiative. The Pelamis Wave Energy Converter is UK-funded and developed by a UK company. It has been likened by the Carbon Trust to a vast sea-snake.

The Carbon Trust remain confident that the wave-power industry could eventually create up to 16,000 green jobs and £2 billion in annual revenue when it reaches its peak in the middle of the 21st century In the meantime, the Department for Business Innovation and Skills have announced plans to create about 1,500 graduate placements to help support the marine-energy industry.

Technology companies, among them IBM and Cisco are reported to be targeting the renewable energy market. They have already announced their plans to aid utility providers to update their electricity grids. This will be necessary to cope with the intermittent nature of power generated by wave sources.

In the same area of activity, it was announced that Aquamarine Power, a wave energy developer, has succeeded in raising £10 million from UK and Irish-based investors.

The investment interest in Aquamarine Power was generated following the announcement in August that a full scale demonstrator of Aquamarine’s Oyster wave energy converter has now been successfully deployed. It is situated in the company’s testing berth at the European Marine Energy Centre in the Orkney Islands.

Work is currently underway to connect Oyster to sub-sea pipelines which will deliver high pressure water to an onshore turbine. The company expects the system to begin generating power to allow offshore testing later this year.

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Tags: Aquamarine Power, Carbon Trust, Cisco, Department for Business Innovation and Skills, Department for Energy and Climate Change, Economy, European Marine Energy Centre, IBM, Lord Hunt, Marine Current Turbines, Marine Renewables Proving Fund, marine-energy, Oyster, Pelamis Wave Power, post-recession Britain, renewable energy, sea-snake, tidal energy, UK government