The British pound is coming under pressure again on the currency markets as investors dump the pound in favour of currencies like the Euro and the US Dollar!

Sterling has dropped to the following rates:

One UK Pound will get you just $1.37 in the USA – this is great for the travelling American so they can come to visit our shops like we did when the rate hit over $2 to the Pound!

One UK Pound will get you €1.06 – which is not quite as low as it has been, but it is still very low and will likely give you a par exchange at the airports when you are travelling abroad.

One UK Pound will translate to Australian $2.10 – for those of you that are travelling further afield!

One UK pound gets Japnese Yen 121.77 – Which is not good for Japan exporting cars to the UK and this will put pressure on these car manfacturers!

From a business perspective this is good for companies that export to other countries and especially to the US and Europe, because our goods become so much cheap cheaper (up to 35% cheaper in the USA from the Sterling high last year) to those countries where we export.

However, where companies are heavily dependent upon imports, then where these come from within the Eurozone and from the USA, their costs will have risen sharply and of course could force them to either put up their prices or could force them out of business all together! Where prices are forced up, this could put pressure on inflation within the UK, which is the last thing we need right now!

Brewing group Foster’s has reported an 88% drop in profits after slashing the value of its Australian and Californian wine assets.

Net profit at fell to 117.7m Australian dollars ($100.3m; £54.7m) in the year to June, from A$966.2m a year earlier.

Without the write-down – which knocked more than A$700m off the value of its assets – profits came in at A$713.2m.

Foster’s also said a review of its wine business meant it was unable to provide guidance for the new financial year.

The brewer and winemaker added that the strong Australian dollar had cut into its earnings, while sliding sales at its Californian wine unit had also knocked its profits.

Acting chief executive Ian Johnston said global trade conditions in the wine market remained “competitive”.

“We have not been immune from industry-wide pressures including an economic slowdown in key markets and higher grape prices,” he said.

“Put simply, financial returns from wine have not met our expectations.”

In an effort to cut its losses, Foster’s is currently carrying out a review of its wine operations which could lead to the sale of some of its brands or vineyards, or even a separate stock market listing, analysts said.

News reported by The BBC

High jet fuel prices saw annual pre-tax profits at Virgin Blue, Australia’s second-largest airline, fall by 55%.

The firm made 97.7m Australian dollars ($84.5m; £45.6m) in the year to the end of June, from A$215.8m in the previous 12 months.

Last month, its biggest shareholder, Toll Holdings, offloaded most of its stake in the carrier to reduce exposure to the ailing industry.

This stoked speculation that Virgin Blue could become a takeover candidate.

The airline, which is a quarter owned by Sir Richard Branson, said it expected the current financial year would be “a challenge”, despite recent falls in the crude oil price.

It has launched a scheme to cut costs and increase income, including additional baggage charges and higher fares.

Virgin Blue has about a third of the Australian domestic aviation market. Its main rivals are Qantas Airways and Jetstar, Qantas’s budget airline.

Airlines have been hit by record oil prices and several have collapsed.

News reported by The BBC

Australia’s largest bank, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, has pulled out of talks to buy ABN Amro’s Australian and New Zealand operations.

The move was prompted by worries over raising the funding for the 777m Australian dollar ($676m; £355m) deal.

Australian interest rates are at a 12-year high, prompting banks to increase provisions for bad loans.

Analysts said that this was making it more difficult or more expensive for the banks to raise funds.

Pulling out ‘prudent’

Commonwealth Bank said the amount it could lose due to borrowers defaulting on loans was A$496m higher this year, taking its total bad debt provision to A$930m.

Despite this, its full-year net profit after tax rose 7% to A$4.79bn.

CBA’s announcement followed National Australia Bank and New Zealand Banking Group who warned of rising bad debt charges last month.

Analysts said this had affected the reputation of Australian banks on the financial markets. making fund raising trickier.

Speaking on the decision to pull out of takeover talks, CBA’s chief executive Ralph Norris said: “Obviously it would be a requirement to raise significant funds for the book we would be taking over.

“We agreed it was prudent to not go further.”

CBA confirmed in July that it was in talks with Royal Bank of Scotland which bought ABN Amro last year, about buying the Dutch bank’s holdings in Australia and New Zealand.

News reported by The BBC