Saturday Papers: Shadow still cast over RBS despite return to profit - other news

Financial Times

* RBS generated pre-tax profits of £1.1bn in the first six months; however, the bank's chief Stephen Hester, struck a characteristically cautious tone and guided towards the much lower net profit figure of £9m as the most indicative of RBS' performance.

* Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway group saw operating profits from its businesses climb 73% in the second quarter supported by stronger results from both insurance and its NetJets business; the group expresses guarded optimism about the US economy.

* Stronger consumer demand for life insurance and other investment products helped Allianz increase its operating profits by 23% to €2.2bn.

* Low interest rates are hurting the insurance industry, the chief executive of Munich Re, Nikolaus von Bomhard, has warned.

* Hans-Rudolf Merz, Switzerland’s beleaguered finance minister, on Friday bowed to months of rising pressure by announcing he would step down in October.

*  The US labour department on Friday reported that the unemployment rate held steady at 9.5% and private payrolls increased by 71,000 jobs, compared with a forecast of 90,0s00.

* The FTSE All-World stock index is down 0.2%; the S&P 500 closed down 0.4% at 1,121.64, and is up 1.8% for the week; the Dow Jones Industrial Average had lost 0.2% to close at 10,653.56, gaining 1.6% over the week; and the Nasdaq was 0.2% lower closing at 2,288.47; the FTSE Eurofirst 300 index closed down 1.1%; the UK’s FTSE 100 index was down 0.7%; In Asia, the mainland Shanghai composite index added 1.4%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.6%; Nikkei 225 average fell 0.1%.

The Daily Telegraph

* BP has admitted it would consider drilling the oil reservoir that gushed 4.9m barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico over the last three months.

* Airline passengers will soon be able to watch live TV while at 30,000ft after Inmarsat spent $1.2bn on the latest broadband satellite technology.

* The shares of brewers, distillers and food producers took a hit on Friday, as the price of wheat remained close to its highest level for two years.