A roundup of today's other business news in brief

BA and Iberia  in advanced merger talks

British Airways and Iberia were in advanced talks last night on a merger that would create Europe’s third-largest airline by revenue.

After arguing for more than a year about the weight of each carrier in a merged group, it appears that the two have agreed on a 55 to 45 per cent split in favour of BA.

Only Germany’s Lufthansa and Air France-KLM would be larger in Europe than the proposed group, whose latest full-year combined revenues were about $23 billion (€15.5 billion).

The BA and Iberia boards held separate meetings yesterday as the companies’ shares rose sharply on speculation that an agreement was close. Iberia gained 11.8 per cent to €2.22, while BA rose 7.5 per cent to 215p. BA confirmed the board meetings but said: “No decisions have been taken.” – (Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009)

World demand for oil rising, says IEA

The world will use more oil in the fourth quarter of 2009, marking the first time global fuel demand has risen year-on-year since the second quarter of 2008, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has said.

After successive year-on-year contractions in demand throughout 2009, the IEA’s monthly Oil Market Report said oil use was edging higher in the final three months of this year.

The Paris-based adviser to 28 industrialised economies raised its 2009 global oil demand estimate from last month’s report by 210,000 barrels to 84.8 million barrels per day, following a strengthening of the world economy.

– (Reuters)

WalMart reports quarterly profit rise

WalMart reported a higher quarterly profit as the world’s biggest retailer cut down on inventory and controlled expenses, but forecast earnings for the current period that could miss Wall Street estimates.

Profit for the third-quarter to October 31st rose to $3.23 billion (€2.18 billion), or 84 cents a share, from $3.14 billion, or 80 cents a share, a year earlier. WalMart had forecast earnings per share from continuing operations of 78 to 82 cents.

Wages rise faster in NI than rest of UK

Average earnings in Northern Ireland increased faster than in the rest of the UK in the year to the end of April, according to new figures released yesterday.

However, people in Northern Ireland still earn considerably less than their counterparts in Britain, the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings shows.

Gross weekly earnings for employees in the North increased 3.4 per cent to £356.7 over the year, while it rose 2.2 per cent to £397.3 per week in the rest of Britain.

The gap between earnings for workers in Britain and Northern Ireland declined by 1 per cent to 10 per cent.