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Live Reporting

Joe Miller and Matthew West

All times stated are UK

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  1. Post update

    Joe Miller

    Business Reporter

    That's it from us for today. Join us again at 06:00 tomorrow.

  2. Don't like Mondays?

    Bob Geldof

    Bob Geldof says that the price of a single has fallen 72% in the past 30 years. But has anything else fallen by more over that period? Our very own statistics guru Anthony Reuben crunches the musical numbers.

  3. Mobile phones

    A fascinating fact courtesy of the Ofcom website: there were 83.1m mobile phone connections (numbers in use) in the fourth quarter of 2013 (the most recent figures available). That was down 300,000 on the same period in 2012.

  4. Via Email

    Royal Bank of Scotland

    Nigel Brewer, who describes himself as "an ageing cynic", has emailed the Live Page with some strong words on the latest RBS scandal. He says: "It seems that the banks have not learnt one lesson to me," he says. "Quite frankly these so called 'errors' won't be stamped out until a few very senior bankers are imprisoned for considerable lengths of time - then and only then will the greed of banks be curtailed and a culture of transparency and honesty be instilled."

  5. Drone laws

    Drone

    Drones have been all the rage in the tech world for some time now, but regulators and lawmakers have been slow to catch up. However the Wall Street Journal reports that the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will mandate that commercial drones have operators, and limit flights to daylight hours, below 400 feet and within sight of the person at the controls.

  6. Tesla to work with BMW?

    Tesla

    Tesla, the US electric carmaker that specialises in luxury coupes, may collaborate with a more established luxury brand - BMW. Reuters reports that the firms may work together on "battery technology or charging stations," although Tesla spokeswoman says talks were "informal" at present.

  7. ART HAUL

    Cornelius

    The Bern Art Museum in Switzerland has accepted a controversial collection of artworks bequeathed to it by German Nazi-era collector Cornelius Gurlitt. Mr Gurlitt gathered more than 1,200 pieces in his Munich apartment, including works by Picasso and Matisse. "Works included in the estate that turn out to be looted or have a high probability of being classified as looted art will be returned to the rightful owners," said museum spokesman Christoph Schaeublin.

  8. Via Twitter

    Nic Fildes, technology & communications editor at The Times

    tweets: "One massive area of overlap for BT and O2 that regulators might not like is the business market, but relatively clean on consumer."

  9. Post update

    Joe Miller

    Business Reporter

    Why are mobile operators approaching BT, you may ask yourself? Well very few companies are in a position to be able to buy a firm the size of EE or O2, without falling foul of competition rules. Any rival carriers would struggle to get regulatory approval for such an acquisition - which would give it a significant share of the market.

  10. BT to buy EE?

    EE Taxi

    Reuters is reporting that yet another mobile operator has approached BT for a buyout. The agency cites "a person familiar with the matter" who says that EE, the UK's biggest mobile operator, has held talks with the group.

  11. Telefonica to sell O2?

    Telefonica

    Spanish telecoms group Telefonica has now issued a statement of its own, in which it says it is in preliminary talks with BT over a potential transaction involving its UK unit - that's O2. "Telefonica informs that, although it is in talks with British Telecom, these talks are in a highly preliminary phase and there is no certainty that a transaction will take place," the firm said.

  12. Telefonica to sell O2?

    BT shares are up 3.24% on the news. Telefonica up a more modest 0.6%.

  13. Telefonica to sell O2?

    BT's own plans to launch a mobile phone operator - it has already launched a service for business customers - see it launching in April 2015 at the latest, although a deal with another mobile phone operator would scupper the need to go ahead with that plan.

  14. Telefonica to sell O2?

    Cellnet

    For those with short memories, it's worth pointing out that O2 was once known as BT Cellnet (perhaps the above logo will bring it all back). So if the deal goes through BT will be buying back a business it eventually sold in 2005 - following a rebrand in 2002 - to Telefonica for £17.7bn.

  15. BreakingBreaking News

    Telefonica to sell O2?

    So, BT has responded to press "speculation" that it is in talks with Telefonica to buy O2. It has issued a statement in which says it is continuing to develop its own plans to launch a mobile carrier next year. It adds two mobile operators have expressed interest in BT buying them out, of which Telefonica's O2 is one. "All discussions are at a highly preliminary stage and there can be no certainty that any transaction will occur," BT says.

  16. Rise in poverty

    The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has published a big report in UK poverty levels today. One section, on pay, reveals the average self-employed worker earns 13% less than they did five years ago. It has also found a big rise in zero hours contracts, part-time work and people working for themselves. The JRF says there are now 13 million people living in poverty in the UK.

  17. Friends life share price

    ...has jumped 7% this morning to 372.60p on the news of the Aviva takeover. Aviva's share price meanwhile remains 3.6% lower at 519.32p.

  18. German confidence

    A closely-watched survey measuring German business confidence has shown a rise for November - after six months of declines. The IFO institute's index rose to 104.7 from 103.2 points in October.

  19. Market data

    Some of you have emailed in about the BBC's market data pages, which are displaying old numbers this morning. There are some problems with the facility, but our software engineers are working on getting it up-and-running as soon as possible. Sincere apologies.

  20. L'Occitane flourishes

    L'Occitane

    French beauty products firm L'Occitane, which is actually headquartered in Luxembourg, reports a staggering 200% rise in pre-tax profits for the six months to the end of September. The firm made €40.3m, compared with €13.3m in the same period last year. However net sales are up just 9%, so the boost in profits is largely due to other factors, such as favourable currency exchange rates.

  21. Telefonica to sell O2?

    The logo of O2 Deutschland,

    Spain's Telefonica is in talks to sell its UK mobile operator O2 to BT according to Spanish website El Confidencial. The deal would see Telefonica receive a 20% stake in BT as part of a "strategic alliance" to strengthen the pair, it says. Neither BT nor Telefonica have commented on the report thus far.

  22. Intesa bid for Coutts

    Private Bank Coutts Logo

    The Financial Times reports Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo is eying a bid for the Queen's bank, Coutts. Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) owns Coutts, but last month it put the international arm of the bank up for sale. Intesa is cash rich with €16bn of excess capital sitting on its balance sheet, so it is looking to make acquisitions. It is, however, trying to convince RBS to sell its highly prized UK business as well, according to the FT.

  23. Markets update

    London's leading share index - the FTSE 100 - is down 0.1% in early trading, dragged down by Aviva, and further falls for major mining companies - including Rio Tinto, Anglo American, Antofagasta and BHP Billiton.

    The detailed outlook on the main European markets is as follows:

    • The FTSE 100 is down 0.11% at 6,743
    • In Frankfurt, the Dax is down 0.1% 9,722
    • In Paris, the Cac is up 0.07% at 4,350
  24. Aviva shares lower

    It seems investors aren't all that impressed with the Aviva takeover of Friends Life. Shares in the UK insurance giant are down 3.5% at 519p.

  25. Petrofac outlook

    Investors are really unhappy with Petrofac's downgraded profits outlook (see 07:49). Shares are down a whopping 20% in early trading. They are currently priced at 951.36p after opening at 996.50p.

  26. Aviva/Friends Life deal

    BBC Radio 4

    "I think predominately its a financial transaction from an Aviva perspective," David Cumming, head of equities at Standard Life, tells Today. He's talking about the proposed merger between Friends Life and the UK insurance giant. He says Aviva has seen an opportunity to make money and cut costs through the deal. Friends worked out the government's reforms of pensions put it in a weak position in the annuities market, which had been responsible for a lot of recent growth, he adds.

  27. Sanctions hit Russia

    Russia is losing $40bn a year due to economic sanctions imposed by Western governments in response to the Ukraine crisis, and up to $100bn a year because of falling oil prices, the country's finance minister, Anton Siluanov, has said.

  28. Spanish bonds

    Spanish Bonds

    Investors seem happy with the strident tone taken by Mario Draghi, the president of the European Central Bank, on battling deflation in the eurozone. The yield on Spanish 10-year bonds have fallen below 2% for the first time - although they have been dropping steadily all year, as the chart above shows.

  29. Petrofac outlook

    Petrofac

    The effects of falling oil prices are being felt at oil and gas giant Petrofac. The company says it expects a $500m net profit in 2015 - much lower than analysts' estimates. "The foundations of the business remain strong," insists chief executive Ayman Asfari.

  30. Insurance company restrictions

    Insurance companies in the UK will be banned from covering the cost of terrorist ransoms, under new anti-terror legislation to be announced by the home secretary, Theresa May, later today. The government says paying ransoms encourages kidnapping and it says Islamic State militants are taking hostages to fund their operations.

  31. Via Twitter

    Adam Parsons

    Business Correspondent

    tweets: "Turns out @LewisHamilton DOES still have TWO allocated parking spaces at Asda Stevenage. But the paint's faded a bit..."

  32. Royal Bank of Scotland

    BBC Radio 4

    RBS

    Late on Friday, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) shares fell 4% after it admitted it had overstated its financial strength as part of the European Central Bank's stress tests. David Cumming, head of UK equities at Standard Life, tells the Today programme that "it's an embarrassing mistake". But, he adds: "Ironically, RBS has one of the best capital ratio positions of the UK banks now, so there's nothing from a customers point of view to worry about".

  33. Food producers' woes

    Radio 5 live

    It's like "removing nutrients from a plant," says Mr Swift of the squeeze on food producers. "Ultimately it will wither, and it may well die". He says the pressure on their profit margins leaves the firms "less able to deal with shocks." It is not the fixed prices for their goods that is hurting, he says, but the demand by supermarkets for suppliers to contribute to the cost of in-store advertising, promotions, or even refurbishment.

  34. Food producers' woes

    Radio 5 live

    Duncan Swift, who works for the accountants behind the food producers report, Moore Stephens - tells Wake Up to Money that the supermarkets are "removing the blanket" of money that allows food suppliers to pay their own suppliers, and to pay their staff a decent wage. It also means that food producers have no money to invest in new products, he says.

  35. Chinese interest rates

    China

    China's leadership and central bank are ready to cut interest rates again and loosen lending restrictions, over concerns that falling prices could trigger a surge in debt defaults, business failures and job losses, according to a report from Reuters. The People's Bank of China is also open to the idea of cutting the banking industry's reserve requirement ratio (RRR), which effectively restricts the amount of money available to fund loans.

  36. Food producers' woes

    There's no doubt that customers are winning in the supermarkets' price war, which is pushing prices ever lower, but one industry is really feeling the pinch. A record number of small food suppliers are going out of business, according to a large accountancy firm, because big retailers are pressurising them to sell their wares more cheaply, which is eating into their profit margins.

  37. Lewis Hamilton

    Radio 5 live

    Lewis Hamilton

    Our colleagues at Wake Up to Money have managed to find a business-related Lewis Hamilton anecdote. Apparently, the double F1 world champion (as of this weekend), was once awarded with a dedicated parking space at his local Asda supermarket.

  38. Asian markets

    China central bank

    Asia's main markets are all up this morning, buoyed by Friday's unexpected rate cut by China's central bank, which has sparked hopes of more action to combat the country's slowing economy. The European Central Bank's vow to fight deflation has also brought cheer to investors. The Hang Seng is up almost 2% at 23,898.34 and the Shanghai Composite is up 2.2% at 2,541.54. The Nikkei is closed for a public holiday.

  39. Post update

    Matthew West

    Business Reporter

    Morning folks. As always you can get in touch via email to bizlivepage@bbc.co.uk and on Twitter @bbcbusiness.

  40. Post update

    Joe Miller

    Business Reporter

    Morning. There's a lot of news around today, but lets start with the Royal Bank of Scotland. The bank - still 80% owned by the taxpayer - has apologised for repeatedly giving incorrect evidence to a parliamentary hearing. The evidence concerned its controversial Global Restructuring Group, which handles the bank's loans to companies considered to be a possible risk. It was accused of killing off viable businesses.