Samsung Sets Record For Smartphone Sales

Samsung has cemented its place as the world's leading smartphone seller after setting a record for the most units shipped in the third quarter.

The company sold 56.3 million smartphones, including its flagship Galaxy S III, in July-September, representing 31.3% of the global market - more than twice as much as rival Apple's 15% share.

Net profit for the South Korean firm doubled to a record 6.6trn won (£3.7bn) in Q3, powered by smartphone sales and huge demand for display panels.

The world's largest technology firm by revenue also saw a record operating profit in July-September of 8.12trn won (£4.6bn), up 91% from the same period last year.

The Galaxy has been a big seller for Samsung

Samsung said its mobile communications business took in 26.25trn won (£14.85bn) in Q3 revenue, accounting for more than half the company's total.

"The business environment remained difficult with global economic uncertainties persisting amid the fiscal concerns in the US and Europe," Samsung senior vice president Robert Yi said.

"However, we continued to break our quarterly profit records."

The Q3 net profit figure was well up from the 3.4trn won (£1.92bn) net profit posted a year ago and beat the previous record of 5.19trn (£2.93bn) won set in April-June.

Total company sales surged 26.4% on-year to an all-time high of 52.2trn won (£29.54bn).

Analysts expect the technology giant to see a marginal fall in income in the final quarter, as sales to retailers peak in the third quarter ahead of Christmas and technology firms ramp up spending on marketing for the year-end rush.

However, they said Samsung's telecommunications business will continue to drive profit with its latest offerings of high-end mobile products, such as its flagship Galaxy S III smartphone.

"We expect Samsung will deliver solid earnings growth with product leadership in the consumer branded business, smartphone and TV, and enhanced bargaining power in the component business, semiconductor and display panel," Citi said in a report.

However, Samsung shares were down over 2% at 1.287m won (£727) in early Friday trades.

The large display panel department has returned to profit for Samsung

The company said its display panel business helped drive its record in the quarter, compared to loss in the section the previous year.

Increasing demand for panels for smartphones and other high valued-added products, such as LED panels for TVs and LCD panels for tablets, offset weak demand for laptop and monitor panels.

Samsung's operating profits have risen every quarter since the first three months of 2011, as booming smartphone sales helped it leapfrog Apple as the world's biggest maker of the devices.

But its shares have been under pressure due to a long-running legal spat with the iPhone manufacturer.

Samsung was dealt a blow in late August when a US federal jury ruled that it infringed some of Apple's design and software patents and fined it more than $1bn (£620m). Samsung has appealed against the ruling.

The legal duel, being fought in around 10 countries, has mirrored an intense market battle between the Galaxy and iPhone. The pair is also tussling over the tablet market.

The South Korean firm launched the Galaxy Note II - the latest version of its oversized smartphone - at the end of September and this week Apple unveiled the iPad Mini.

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Admiralty Arch To Become Luxury Hotel

Admiralty Arch has been sold on a 99-year lease for £60m and is to be turned into a luxury hotel, it has been confirmed.

The ceremonial gateway between The Mall and Trafalgar Square has been leased to Prime Investors Capital, the company behind the Bulgari Hotel in Knightsbridge.

Residential apartments are also planned for the first and second floors, with up to 100,000 visitors a year expected to pass through the hotel.

Sky News first reported the deal on October 24, which is dependent on Westminster City Council granting planning permission for the multi-million pound conversion of the Grade I listed building.

The Arch was commissioned by King Edward VII and completed in 1912

Cabinet minister Francis Maude said the Government had secured a "good price" for the building and dismissed claims it would become the preserve of the super rich.

"It is not the preserve of anyone at the moment and it won't be," he said. "The bars and restaurants will be open to the public. We think the price is a good price, a fair price.

"Obviously our main concern was to make sure the building is properly looked after, properly renovated and treated with the respect and affection it deserves."

The arch, which has been the focus of many national ceremonies over the last century, was commissioned by King Edward VII as a tribute to his mother Queen Victoria and was completed in 1912. The restoration will use original drawings by architect Sir Aston Webb dating back to 1910.

Aerial view of the arch, which was once used by the intelligence services

Mr Maude said it was a great example of how Government property could spur growth and would bring new jobs to London.

"Its astonishing appearance gives no clue to the somewhat less astonishing history when it has been serving for most of that time as slightly random office space for the Government," he said.

"It's a really great shame that in the 100 years since it was opened there has been virtually no public access to the arch outside of Government officials."

He added: "Impressive monument that it is on the outside, for decades the arch has languished as a glorified, actually not that glorified, office space. A taxpayer-owned building that offered little value to the taxpayer.

"This arrangement will not only save money, it will bring this London landmark back to life, opening it up to the public and ensuring they have a say in its future."

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Boost For Obama As US Economy Grows By 2%

The US economy grew at an annualised rate of 2% in the third quarter, higher than analysts had expected.

The rebound was fuelled by higher consumer and government spending and more home building, according to US Commerce Department figures showed released on Friday in Washington.

Economists had projected gross domestic product (GDP) would rise to 1.7% from 1.3% in the second quarter.

The modest gains will be good news for President Barack Obama's re-election hopes, with his campaign painting it as proof that the economy is heading in the right direction.

His Republican challenger Mitt Romney called the new report "discouraging".

He suggested the pick-up was not sufficient to create enough jobs and improve take-home pay.

Mr Romney is focusing on the public's economic concerns heading into the final days of the campaign as polls suggest Americans say they trust him more than President Obama to handle the issue.

Consumer spending, which has the biggest impact on GDP, rose 2% in the July-to-September period, compared to 1.5% in the second quarter.

It accounts for nearly 70% of US economic activity and is vital to any long-term recovery.

Demand for new cars and technology is up, while at the same time the housing sector is continuing to recover from its worst slump in recent history.

Sales of new homes jumped 28% over the past 12 months and investment in housing and renovations surged to 14.4%.

Still, growth remains too weak to rapidly boost hiring.

"Growth came in a little higher than we had feared, largely because of the big jump in federal spending," said Paul Ashworth, chief US economist at Capital Economics.

"But the economy is still not growing rapidly enough to create sufficient jobs to reduce the unemployment rate."

Since the recovery from the Great Recession began in June 2009, the US economy has grown at the slowest rate of any recovery in the post-World War II period.

Many analysts think growth will remain sluggish at least through the first half of 2013, with the economy starting to pick up in the second half of next year.

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Nine More Banks Under Libor Rate-Fix Scrutiny

Nine additional banks have been drawn into accusations of Libor rate-fixing, according to news reports.

It was reported that some of the world's biggest banks, including Britain's Lloyds Banking Group, had been sent subpoenas by two US state attorney generals.

New York attorney general Eric Schneiderman and Connecticut's George Jepsen reportedly sent subpoenas to Bank of America, Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ, Credit Suisse, Rabobank, Royal Bank of Canada, Societe Generale, Norinchukin Bank and West LB.

Lloyds declined to comment about the report to Sky News. Its share price dropped around 1.5% in early trading.

The two US prosecutors have now put 16 banks under scrutiny, after previously launching investigations into Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays, HSBC, Deutsche Bank, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and UBS.

The US investigators have made requests for both communications and document trails at the banks.

Both American states are examining if the banks colluded to fix interest rates and thereby adversely affecting both investors and borrowers in their jurisdictions.

The banking industry has come under intense pressure over Libor as the inter-bank rate affects more $300trn in global transactions.

Other legal probes into the Libor scandal have been launched in Britain, Japan and Canada over benchmark rate manipulation.

The scandal was exposed last June when Barclays agreed to pay £290m in fines to UK and US regulators over alleged attempts at Libor manipulation at the time of the global financial crisis.

A number of key Barclays executives were forced from office and taint from the scandal spread across the industry and embroiled Bank of England and Cabinet Office executives.

The British Bankers' Association, which was responsible for Libor oversight, has since offered to relinquish the role amid calls for reform.

The FT said: "Unlike US federal prosecutors, Mr Schneiderman is armed with his state's Martin Act, a 1921 New York law considered one of the country's most powerful prosecutorial tools.

"The law allows Mr Schneiderman to investigate anyone doing business in New York and to bring cases without having to show that the accused intended to commit fraud.

"It also allows him to operate across state lines, essentially acting on behalf of investors across the US."

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EDF To Raise Gas And Electricity Prices

Energy giant EDF is to increase prices for householders by an average of 10.8%.

The rise, gas and electricity, around four times the rate of inflation, is set to be implemented on December 7.

EDF, which has 3.1 million customers and 5.5 million accounts overall, said its annual dual fuel bill was the lowest of the suppliers to have announced price rises so far.

Companies have blamed the changes on rising wholesale prices and increased running costs - especially for transporting gas and electricity to customers' homes - and the cost of energy efficiency programmes.

Martin Lawrence, EDF managing director of energy sourcing and customer supply, said: "We know that customers will not welcome this news and do not want to see prices going up.

"Our new prices will, however, be cheaper on average than those of all the other major suppliers which have announced standard price rises so far this autumn.

"We've taken extra measures to make sure the most vulnerable benefit from the best deals and we continue to help customers reduce their bills with energy efficiency measures."

Earlier this month Npower became the third of the so-called Big Six energy firms to confirm steep rises in its gas and electricity bills ahead of winter.

It said bills would increase by an average 8.8% for gas and 9.1% for electricity from November 26.

Just hours beforehand British Gas confirmed that its average dual fuel tariff would rise by 6% - or £80 annually - from November 16.

The Big Six - British Gas, EDF, E.On, NPower, Scottish Power and SSE - control 99% of the UK's domestic energy supplies.

E.ON is the only big supplier yet to announce price rises after it made a promise not to raise tariffs this year.

Last week the energy regulator Ofgem said it would make the market "simpler, clearer and fairer" for consumers.

The promise follows a call by the Prime Minister to energy giants to overhaul confusing tariff systems.

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Canadian Pensioners In £600m Motorsport Deals

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

Canada's biggest pension fund is plotting a double-swoop on the world's most prestigious motorsport series through investments worth about £600m, I have learned.

The Canada Pension Plan (CPP) is expected to announce that it is investing approximately £250m in new debt issued by the parent company of Formula One (F1) motor racing.

The investment will form part of a $1bn (£620m) bond issue organised by CVC Capital Partners, F1's largest shareholder, which will fund a dividend windfall for the sport's equity investors.

The other principal investors in the bond will be Waddell & Reed, which is also acquiring about £250m of the bond, BlackRock and the Principal Investment Area of Goldman Sachs, the Wall Street bank, insiders tell me.

CPP will also announce that it is paying about £320m for a roughly-40% stake in Dorna Sports S.L, the company which owns the rights to MotoGP and the Superbike World Championship, according to people familiar with its plans.

JP Morgan has been advising CPP on its investment in the motorcycling series, while UBS has been advising Bridgepoint.

That investment will follow an announcement earlier this month by Bridgepoint, the private equity group which controls the two motorbike disciplines, that it will merge their parent companies.

Dorna Sports (which CVC previously owned) holds the global broadcasting and commercial rights to 2036 to organise the FIM Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix, also known as MotoGP, while Infront Sports & Media organises the eni FIM Superbike World Championship.

The merger of the two companies' motorcycle racing interests is designed to exploit joint commercial opportunities and is seen by analysts as a shrewd move ahead of potential exit for Bridgepoint in several years' time.

The CPP investment values the motorcycling business at more than £800m, according to bankers.

During the last five years, Canadian pension funds have been among the most voracious buyers of British infrastructure and 'trophy' assets, acquiring stakes in companies ranging from Camelot, the operator of the National Lottery, to Anglian Water.

In 1997, the CPP Investment Board was established by the then finance minister, Paul Martin, to diversify public sector workers' retirement savings.

CPP's decision to buy £250m of F1's debt comes at an intriguing time for the sport. As Sky News revealed last week, the Texan teachers' pension fund is buying 3% of the sport in a deal that values it at around $9bn, with plans for an initial public offering now unlikely in the next year.

The Times reported that the board of F1's parent company had employed headhunters to identify a successor to Bernie Ecclestone. Egon Zehnder was asked to draw up a list of potential replacement during the spring, a fact that was disclosed in the draft prospectus for F1's stock market listing five months ago.

CVC and Bridgepoint declined to comment. CPP could not be reached for comment.

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Anglo American Boss Cynthia Carroll Quits

Anglo American's chief executive Cynthia Carroll has stepped down after increased pressure from investors over the mining firm's lagging share price.

Ms Carroll quit after more than five years in the job amid concerns about the company's continued dependence on troubled South Africa.

A geologist by training, she became the first non-South African, the first woman and the first outsider to take the top job at Anglo when she became CEO in 2007.

Sky News City Editor Mark Kleinman reported last week that Ms Carroll was tipped to leave the firm.

She faced increasing pressure from investors as Anglo's stock price lagged in the mining sector by almost 20%.

Traders reacted positively to Ms Carroll's resignation and shares jumped 2.54% during late London trading.

Ms Carroll's departure leaves only two female CEOs in charge of FTSE 100 companies - Angela Ahrendts at Burberry and Alison Cooper of Imperial Tobacco.

Brushing aside suggestions she was pressured to leave, Ms Carroll and chairman John Parker, her long-standing supporter, said the decision was her own.

Her job was described as a "very gruelling and demanding role".

Her efforts to streamline what was a sprawling conglomerate, to cut billions in costs and to shift Anglo's centre of gravity away from South Africa initially won support.

But her relationship with investors became more troubled after acquisitions like the Minas Rio iron ore project in Brazil, an early bid to diversify Anglo's portfolio, became mired in cost overruns and delays.

Anglo has yet to give a final cost estimate for the project but analysts say they could rise to £5bn from current figure of £3.6bn.

"Institutional pressure has been building for some time to replace Cynthia, so the news will be welcomed," one of Anglo's 15 largest shareholders said.

"Ultimately, running Anglo is one of the toughest jobs around and, although Cynthia made a good start as CEO, the feeling is the company has gone backwards in the last two to three years."

Other investors also pointed to a mixed record at the top.

"Her strategic moves didn't always hit the mark. The acquisition of Minas Rio, promptly followed by a dividend cut, was a particular low point," another of Anglo's 15 biggest investors said.

Crippling strikes in platinum and iron ore mines in South Africa over the past weeks have revived long-standing worries over Anglo's exposure to the country.

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Tearful 'Rogue Trader' Tells Of UBS Losses

A trader accused of Britain's biggest fraud was allegedly trying to cover millions of pounds worth of losses incurred during the financial crisis for the bank he called his "family", a court has heard.

Kweku Adoboli, 32, is accused of gambling away £1.4bn while working as a trader for Swiss bank UBS.

At one point, he was at risk of causing the bank losses of $12bn (£7.5bn), jurors at Southwark Crown Court were told.

Adoboli wept as he gave evidence for the first time at his trial, in which he claimed his off-book trades were to cover $40m (£24.9m) annual losses of his portfolio of companies from 2008.

The court heard that by 2007 Adoboli, aged just 27, and more senior trader John Hughes, 25, were in charge of a portfolio of companies with assets of $50bn (£31.1bn).

"Our book was massive. A tiny mistake led to huge losses. We were these two kids trying to make it work," he said.

Mr Adoboli, wearing a dark suit and red tie, denied he was a "gambler" and said his knowledge of UBS's systems did not result in "fraudulent behaviour".

Fighting back tears, he said: "It's hard to find the words to describe the relationship I had with UBS as an organisation. It isn't about a bank. It was about what I thought was my family, considering how much (I) neglected my real friends and family.

"Every single bit of effort I put into that organisation was for the benefit of the bank, the people around me and the book I worked on.

"If I was not so proud to work for UBS, I would never put so much effort trying to convince them that we could achieve something at this bank."

He added: "To find yourself in Wandsworth Prison for nine months because all you did was work so hard for this bank..." before stopping as he broke down in tears.

Mr Adoboli is facing two counts of fraud and four counts of false accounting between October 2008 and September 2011, allegedly gambling away the money on high-risk illegal trades aimed at boosting his annual bonuses and job prospects.

The former public schoolboy worked for UBS's global synthetic equities division, buying and selling exchange traded funds (ETFs), which track different types of stocks, bonds or commodities such as metals.

Ghanaian-born Mr Adoboli enjoyed a rapid rise at UBS after completing an internship while a student at Nottingham University in 2002, the court heard.

Mr Adoboli told the court he feared UBS would not survive $52bn (£32.3bn) losses incurred in 2007-08 as the banking crisis took hold.

He said: "The effect on the organisation was incredible. There were times we thought there was no way the organisation would survive. I grew up with UBS. I felt very loyal to UBS.

"What could we do to help this organisation survive this incredible crisis?"

The trial continues.

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Exclusive: RBS Eyes Worldpay Payout

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

The taxpayer-controlled Royal Bank of Scotland is in line for a substantial windfall from the sale of part of the payments processing business it was forced to offload as punishment for its £45bn bail-out four years ago.

I understand that Advent International and Bain Capital, the controlling shareholders in Worldpay, have appointed JP Morgan, the investment bank, to explore a sale of the company's US operation.

Such a disposal could fetch as much as $1bn (£620bn), bankers say, and insiders tell me that a large chunk of the proceeds is likely to be returned to Worldpay's investors.

For RBS, that would represent a rare piece of welcome financial news. When it sold Worldpay in 2010, it was allowed to retain a 19.99% stake in the business by the European Commission.

Although that stake has since been diluted to 18%, the bank could still reap a dividend worth tens, or even, hundreds of millions of pounds, depending upon the sale price and the proportion of the proceeds that is paid out to shareholders.

Worldpay, which is one of the world's largest electronic payments processing companies, operates in more than 40 countries.

It said this year that its US revenues fell by 3.6% in the first half of the year following a "strategic decision to withdraw from certain unprofitable market segments".

RBS sold Worldpay for about £1.7bn in a deal structured to provide the former owner with additional payments worth up to £200m if the business met unspecified performance thresholds.

RBS and Worldpay declined to comment.

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Victory For Man Who Took Cold Caller To Court

A businessman plagued by nuisance phone calls offering compensation for Payment Protection Insurance has secured £220 in an out-of-court settlement.

Richard Herman, 53, was so fed up with the unwanted calls arriving from India, he decided to take matters into his own hands.

He warned the company that, in future, he would invoice them £10 for every minute of his time they used.

When the calls continued he began recording them before finally invoicing the company £195 for their use of his "time, telephone and electricity".

Upon receipt of the invoice the marketing firm acting on behalf of UK-based PPI Claimline Ltd, denied making the calls. When Mr Herman revealed he had recorded evidence, they still refused to pay.

But when Mr Herman filed a claim in the small claims court for the unpaid invoice - plus £25 in costs - the company offered to settle the debt out of court and transferred £220 into his bank account.

Mr Herman filed in the small claims court when his invoice was not paid

Mr Herman said: "I kept being called, as we all do, and I thought the only way for them to stop would be for me to speak to them and say, 'For goodness sake, take me off your list!'

"Then it occurred to me to tell them that if they call again I'll charge for my time. When they continued calling I sent them an invoice for 19.5 minutes."

To encourage others to do the same Mr Herman has set up a website with examples of covering letters and invoices to send to nuisance callers.

Even though the validity of Mr Herman's original invoice was not tested in court, he believes anyone who warns cold-calling companies they will be charged if they call, have a right to invoice them.

"I did business studies at 17 and studied 'offer-and-acceptance' so I knew a verbal contract is just as valid as a written one but harder to prove.

"The recorded calls proved I did tell them I would charge for my time if they called again".

Mr Herman, who works in the telephone industry selling call-recording equipment, said his action was a last resort after asking the Information Commissioner and the Telephone Preference Service for help.

In a statment, PPI Claimline said: "We would like to stress that all our supplier relationships are subject to strict contractual provisions requiring full compliance with all relevant regulations, including those which relate to data protection and the telephone preference service.

"We would like to draw a clear line between the two calls to Mr Herman made on behalf of PPI Claimline and any other calls he received, which were nothing to do with PPI Claimline or its suppliers."

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