LONDON – Debt Free Direct Group PLC yesterday reported a 128 percent increase in half-yearly pre-tax profits to £4.26 million. Its turnover for the six months ending October 32 was up 91 percent to £12.2 million.

The company also revealed that it had arranged for 536 IVAs per month over the last six months. This figure was up from 266 IVAs per month at the same time a year ago.

Meanwhile Debt Free said that it was preparing a list of misleading advertisements by its rivals and will be submitting the same to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). Derek Oakley, insolvency director at Debt Free Direct (DFD), said that competitors were exaggerating the level of debts that could be written off.

Accuma, Spectrum and W3 Debt Solutions are some of the companies named in the dossier. ASA said that it would be looking into the report before deciding whether a full inquiry was needed. Mr Oakley said that the ASA must take swift action and force the firms to withdraw the misleading ads.

“Regulation hasn’t caught up with the reality of the growth in IVAs,” Mr Oakley said. The shadow chancellor, George Osborne has accused the debt industry of leading the consumers to believe that some debts can be easily dodged.

“I am concerned that people may be being encouraged by unscrupulous IVA companies to commit to IVAs, even where this may not be the right course of action … Firm action must be taken against any IVA company found to be issuing false or misleading advice,” Osborne added.

LONDON – UK life insurer Friends Provident today announced a 40 percent increase in third-quarter life insurance and pensions sales in the UK spurred on the April reforms in the country.

Friends Provident, which is the UK’s fifth-biggest insurer, said that the income from new business was 1.60 billion pounds in the third quarter, beating expectations of 1.46 billion pounds forecast by analysts. A year ago sales figures totaled 1.14 billion pounds.

Friends Provident also said that UK new business increased 34 percent to £3.04 billion compared with £2.27 billion reported at the same time last year. Total International new business increased by 51 percent to £1.59 billion, the group added.

“In the UK our leading group pensions franchise has continued to support profitable growth, with a useful contribution from individual pensions business in the third quarter,” said Ben Gunn, chief executive of Life and Pensions at Friends Provident. “We now intend to become a major player in the investment market, whilst still further building profitability and presence in our two other core product segments.”

The group also said that the life business market continued to be competitive. Hence it has taken measures like repositioning the pricing on its products and renegotiating reinsurance arrangements very early this year in order to minimize the impact on its bottom line.

“International growth has been excellent in the year so far, with good prospects for a healthy contribution in the fourth quarter. These results clearly demonstrate our ability to drive growth in both the UK and International businesses,” said a statement issued by the group.

LONDON – House prices rose at their fastest rate in two years despite the increase in interest rates by the Bank of England in August, the latest survey by property consultant Hometrack said.

The annual house price inflation was 4.3 percent in September as compared to the previous year. This is the fastest growth in the last two years, Hometrack said. In September the actual rise in house prices was 0.4 percent, while the cost of an average UK home was 167,900.

“Despite the rate increase in August, house prices continue to rise as we start the autumn selling season,” said Richard Donnell, director of research at Hometrack. “Prices have risen in nine out of 10 regions over September, largely on the back of a 0.4 percent decline in the volume of homes available for sale over the month.”

Hometrack said the main reason for the rise in house prices was a lack of good properties coming onto the market. The disparity between demand and supply was most visible in London and the South East. Hometrack said prices here grew rose above the national average. Hometrack also said that the proportion of asking prices being achieved by sellers fell for the third month running in September.

Hometrack predicted that house price growth would slow down in the coming months, “Whilst the supply constraints are unlikely to disappear in the very short term, we expect the extent of price increases to continue to slow over the rest of the autumn,” Mr Donnell said.

LONDON – Campaigners continued their protests against the installation of speed cameras amid government reports that most number of road casualties took place due to the drivers’ failure to pay attention on road rather than for speeding.

The campaigners argued that if that was the case, then there was no need of the speed cameras as they cannot do anything to stop a driver from speeding. Paul Smith, associated with Safe Speed, which has led the campaign, said, “In that case, why are there so many cameras? Even those statistics are flawed, because they could include a joy-rider who is going at 100mph and no camera will ever stop him. They are spinning like tops to justify the camera programme.”

According to government reports, accident casualties in UK dropped to 3,201 deaths in 2005, a decline of 0.6 percent while the rate of serious injuries fell to 7 percent. The figures shown by Department for Transport added that of the total number of accidents taking place, 26 percent of them were fatal crashes. Even there the DfT said that only 15 percent of the accidents were caused due to speeding. Meanwhile over 35 percent of fatal accidents took place due to loss of control.

The DfT used only police reports and were aware that the numbers recorded could be less than the actual number. A spokesman for DfT said, “We have always used police figures and they do provide a straight year-on-year comparison.”

LONDON – UK’s mobile telecoms giant Vodafone has decided to part ways with its 25 percent stake in Belgian company Proximus. The world’s largest mobile phone operator has agreed to sell Proximus to Belgacom for €2 billion in cash.

Belgacom already owns 75 percent of the group and will now assume full ownership. “We have enjoyed a long and successful relationship with Belgacom, and together have built the leading mobile operator in Belgium. We do not, however, see ourselves as the most appropriate long-term holder of this minority stake,” said Vodafone chief executive Arun Sarin. “In line with our strategy of actively managing our portfolio and maximizing returns, we have achieved an attractive price with this sale.”

Belgium’s top mobile operator, Belgacom also announced that it had agreed to sell 5.8 percent stake in Neuf Cegetel to French media group Vivendi’s. “The group now has all the necessary assets to address the current market evolutions, while maintaining its leadership position in Belgium,” commented Belgacom Chief Executive Officer Didier Bellens.

The sale of the Belgian business is another blow for Vodafone, which has been forced to withdraw from many international markets. In January, Vodafone exited Sweden and in April sold off its Japanese business. Chief executive Arun Sarin has faced increased pressure to deliver results. But for the present sale, he said the company would not receive anticipated dividend income of £150 million from Proximus this year. Consequently there will be a “reduction in its free cash flow outlook for the year end,” he added.

LONDON – A new survey has found that nearly one in ten Britons is the victim of identity fraud. The survey adds that people aged under-30 are the most vulnerable to such fraud since they are poor at keeping personal details safe.

The survey of 2,200 adults by YouGov found that two-thirds of the group aged under-30 admitted to giving their PIN numbers and bank details to friends and family. Around 28 percent did not know that a utility bill could also be used by people to commit identity theft. The survey was commissioned by Npower.

“August is the most popular time of year for moving property, therefore the risk of ID theft is increased,” said Npower spokeswoman Zoe Coombs. “The under-30s are at higher risk of becoming victims or of putting others at risk as they are more likely to be nomadic, living in rented properties, moving out of university halls and so on.” The poll also found that eight out of 10 people in the under-30 group were unaware of their credit rating. Also the risk of identity theft was greatest when people moved houses.

Professor Martin Gill, a identity theft specialist, who is a professor of criminology at Leicester University, said that the number of identity thefts was far higher than reported. “Official statistics relating to cases of ID theft are not indicative of the true scale of this growing crime, many cases go unrecorded or undetected,” he pointed out. “It is relatively easy for a thief to steal someone’s identity and people – particularly the under 30s – aren’t as cautious as they should be when it comes to safeguarding their own personal details and those of others. At that age it really isn’t seen as important.”

CIFAS, the fraud prevention service in the UK says that identity theft has been growing alarmingly in the past few years. Around 20,000 cases were reported in 1999, but this number rose to 137,000 in 2005.

LONDON – Music retailer HMV announced today that Simon Fox has been appointed as its new chief executive. Fox will succeed Alan Giles, who steps down on September 28.

Simon Fox quit as the chief operating officer of Kesa Electricals last week. HMV said in a statement that Fox was “chief operating officer, with responsibility for Comet in the UK, Kesa’s subsidiaries in Continental Europe and e-commerce developments.” The appointment comes even as HMV struggles to gain a foothold in the market being dominated by the supermarkets and the Internet. On July 6, it reported a 21 percent drop in annual profits.

Like-for-like sales for the nine weeks to July 1 fell 10 percent. HMV also owns Waterstone’s book stores and is hoping to recoup its losses through a strong online presence as well as considerable price cuts. “The board of HMV is delighted to announce someone of Simon’s caliber as chief executive. He has a strong strategic mind combined with a first rate track record in all aspects of retailing,” said HMV’s non-Executive chairman Carl Symon. “The board is highly confident that [Mr Fox] will successfully lead the transformation of HMV into a truly world-class multi-channel retailer.”

Mr Fox said he was a “huge admirer”” of the HMV and Waterstone’s brands. “We all know that these are highly competitive markets, but I firmly believe that the stellar attributes which are in the DNA of the brands and operating culture will enable the group’s businesses to successfully differentiate themselves and to compete effectively,” he added.