US to double vehicle fuel economy

29 July 2011 Last updated at 19:46 GMT Executives representing 90% of the cars sold in the US joined Mr Obama at the announcement Major carmakers have agreed new fuel efficiency standards proposed by the Obama administration in an effort to end the dominance of gas guzzlers.

They have agreed that by 2025, cars and light trucks sold in the US will drive on average 54.5 miles per gallon (mpg) of fuel, compared with 27 mpg today.

The White House said the measures would reduce imports of foreign oil and consumers' petrol costs.

Environmental groups said the deal would reduce air pollution.

President Barack Obama was joined by carmaker executives as he made the announcement in Washington on Friday.

He said it would lower the country's oil use by 2.2m barrels a day over the next 15 years and save US consumers almost $2tn (?1.2tn) in fuel costs.

"This agreement on fuel standards represents the single most important step we've ever taken as a nation to reduce our dependence on foreign oil," Mr Obama said.

By the time the standards take effect, the government expects gas-electric hybrids to make up about half of new vehicles.

It comes two years after Mr Obama arranged an $80bn bailout of the US car industry.

With the industry in the doldrums amid the economic downturn and fierce competition from foreign automakers in 2009, Mr Obama helped shepherd a taxpayer-financed bankruptcy reorganisation of General Motors and Chrysler, two major US carmakers.

That left them without the political capital to oppose Mr Obama's proposed fuel efficiency regulations, analysts said.

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Superdry owner's profits double

13 July 2011 Last updated at 08:00 GMT Continue reading the main story Shares in Supergroup have jumped 11% after the the Superdry and Cult clothes chain owner reported profits up 110%.

The result was helped by strong trading, new store openings, overseas growth and fatter profit margins.

Total profits before tax for the year to 1 May were ?47.3m.

The firm - which also owns the 77Breed and SurfCo California labels - opened 21 new stores in the year, and is about to sign the lease on a new flagship store on London's Regent Street.

Supergroup previously set itself a target of opening 20 new stores a year.

The company also made more money per store, with the operating profit margin at its retail business increasing from 21% to 26%.

Total revenues were up 71%, including a trebling of internet sales.

The Cheltenham-based company said it had rolled out its international business further, with 44 overseas franchises and licensed stores opened during the year.

That helped the share of foreign sales in its wholesale business grew from 49% to 60%.

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LinkedIn shares double on debut

19 May 2011 Last updated at 17:04 GMT LinkedIn executives rang New York's opening bell on Thursday Shares in business networking website LinkedIn have more than doubled on their trading debut in New York, having been priced at $45 each.

Its share price hit $108 at one point in the sort of debut rally not seen since the dotcom bubble of the late 1990s.

The initial sale price was already at the top of an increased range.

LinkedIn sold 7.84 million shares at $45 each. At $100 a share the company is worth about $10bn.

LinkedIn is the first US social network site to get a share listing.

Some analysts believe its strong debut is down to investors' over-enthusiasm for social media stocks.

"The price we're seeing for LinkedIn shares has nothing to do with the value of the company," says Paul Kedrosky, angel investor and senior fellow at the Kaufman Foundation.

"It's just an indication of how much appetite and interest there is for social media stocks."

"LinkedIn is the only trading vehicle for this type of stock. It's the equivalent of trying to funnel thousands of people through a single door".

"Every investor I know is currently scouring around for a social media company to take public. They think it's worth selling at this stage, but not necessarily buying the stocks," he added.

Continue reading the main story Rory Cellan-Jones Technology correspondent, BBC News

$4bn looks a very fancy price for a company with revenues last year of $243m and profits of $15.4m.

That looks modest compared with the figures of $50bn and more being bandied around for Facebook's valuation.

Both price tags will look dumb to those sceptics who see Facebook as an ephemeral craze for people with poor social skills and LinkedIn as little more than a glorified Rolodex

There have been concerns that social networking sites are creating a new stock market bubble.

Shares in one of China's biggest social networking sites Renren rose sharply on their debut in New York earlier this month.

Renren's shares were priced at $14, and in their first day of trading peaked at $21.93 before closing at $18.01.

Facebook and Twitter are both expected to seek stock market listings in the next few years.

On Wednesday, the price range for LinkedIn's initial public offering was lifted from $32 to $35 a share to a range of $42 to $45.

Before shares in LinkedIn started trading, this new price range had valued it at about 17 times its earnings from 2010.

But at $100 a share the company is worth 25 times its 2011 revenue, assuming first-quarter sales are matched over the next three quarters.

Google, which went public in 2004, has a market value of about six times its annual revenues.

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