It’s the derivatives markets that have the complicated technology and we can legitimately say that we have the best,” he said. “An underlying market that wants to get into derivatives has to acquire the best technology to do it.”Liffe also posted pre-tax profits before exceptionals up 43 per cent in the first half of the year, to £6.8m. The rise follows the increasing use of Liffe’s proprietary Connect electronic derivatives-trading platform, which saw trading volumes rise 46 per cent year on year.Hugh Freedberg, the chief executive, warned that the group’s costs were set to rise amid “significant investment” in technology infrastructure in the second half of the year.. An 18 per cent decline in interim earnings and a cut in full-year estimates from VNU, a Dutch business information publisher, yesterday put the skids under UK media stocks. An 18 per cent decline in interim earnings and a cut in full-year estimates from VNU, a Dutch business information publisher, yesterday put the skids under UK media stocks.
VNU, which publishes a dozen trade titles based in London including Computing and Accountancy Age, said first-half profit excluding one-off items fell to 75.5m euros (£47m) from 92.5m euros. It also cut estimates for growth in its full-year earnings per share before goodwill to 5 per cent, a rise from the 10 per cent management predicted in March.Lord Hollick’s United Business Media, now largely a business-to-business publisher, fell 4.5 per cent after the release of VNU’s results, though it recovered to end 1.5p lower at 556.5p. Informa, a mid-cap trade magazine group with publishing interests in the troubled telecoms sector, ended 6.5p down at 290p.Rob van den Bergh, executive chairman of VNU, said: “In the trade journal area, things have really worsened this year.” He noted that first-half US advertising sales for VNU trade titles, which include The Hollywood Reporter and Billboard, were down 25 per cent, while European ad sales had slumped 12 per cent.Mr van den Bergh added: “That has been a hard blow for us.In Europe, we see a slight worsening in the figures from the first-half, especially in recruitment (advertising).”VNU has been moving away from advertising-based businesses, but still failed to escape the sector’s downturn.

Earlier this year, it paid $2.3bn (£1.6bn) for AC Nielsen, a US market information group that monitors television audience viewing.VNU shares closed down 2.8 euros at 33.29 euros, just above the two-year low hit in early trading.. Sir Christopher Gent, chief executive of Vodafone, yesterday rejected accusations of making illegal payments to Mannesmann managers as part of last year’s takeover. He said he was confident German prosecutors would drop the investigation. Sir Christopher Gent, chief executive of Vodafone, yesterday rejected accusations of making illegal payments to Mannesmann managers as part of last year’s takeover. He said he was confident German prosecutors would drop the investigation.
“At no time did I or any other Vodafone director or employee make any financial offer or incentive to any Mannesmann director or employee,” Sir Christopher said at Mannesmann’s shareholder meeting in Germany. “We are confident there’s no case to answer.”The accusation is that Sir Christopher and members of the Mannesmann supervisory board secured approval for Vodafone’s takeover by offering a payment of 60m German marks (£20m) to Klaus Esser, the company’s chief executive. Other managers are said to have received DM28m (£9.4m).But Sir Christopher said the severance payments were set by the German company and only honoured by Vodafone once the takeover was approved by the European Commission in April last year.The Dusseldorf prosecutor said earlier this week that it had widened its investigations into the payments to include the Vodafone chief executive as well as Josef Ackermann, a former Mannesmann supervisory board member and chief executive-designate of Deutsche Bank.

Also involved is Klaus Zwickel, chairman of the powerful IG Metall union.In addition, prosecutors are looking into the legality of certain pension contribution promises made to Mannesmann executives.Mannesmann held a shareholder meeting yesterday because some of its shares are still being traded. The company asked the 200 holders present to defer a vote that discharges the supervisory board of its duties until the prosecutor has completed its probe.Mr Esser has called for the prosecutors to halt the investigation, saying they were trying to establish whether the payments came from Vodafone, an allegation which had been proved false. Mr Ackermann was not at the meeting.Vodafone says it has sought legal advice in Germany and been told there was nothing untoward with the payments.Vodafone shares closed 2.5p lower at 130.5p.. Weir Group yesterday hit out at criticism from human rights groups of its business in war-torn Sudan and said it would consider further projects there.

Weir Group yesterday hit out at criticism from human rights groups of its business in war-torn Sudan and said it would consider further projects there.
The Glasgow-based maker of pumps sold £20m worth of its products to the newly-emerging oil industry in Sudan in 1998. The pumps are vital for moving the oil through pipelines.Weir brought over Sudanese engineers to be trained in Britain and it continues to service and provide spare parts for the pumps.Human rights groups, led by Christian Aid, have castigated Weir for its involvement and charged that this makes it “complicit” in the Khartoum government’s violent campaign against its own people in the south of the country.Other British firms criticised for involvement include Rolls-Royce and BP Amoco. Aid agencies argue that the Sudanese government uses oil revenues to buy weapons, including helicopter gunships, which are then turned on its opponents. Tens of thousands of southerners have been driven out of oil-rich areas through a “scorched earth” campaign.Reporting interim results yesterday, Sir Ron Garrick, Weir’s chairman, admitted that the company had also secured a second Sudanese contract, although it was never announced.

He suggested this new deal was worth less than £5m.He added: “If the opportunity arises, we will be bidding for more work there. The British government is not recommending us to withdraw.”Sir Ron conceded that oil revenues could be used by the Sudanese government to buy arms. He said he was unsure whether there were widespread human rights abuse in Sudan, as he had never been there.Christian Aid pointed out that the human rights situation in Sudan had been well documented by non-government organisations and the UN.. The imbalance between booming services and recession-hit manufacturing has reached its most extreme since 1980, it was revealed yesterday.