JJB adds fashion chain

RETAIL giant JJB Sports has agreed to buy discount fashion chain TJ Hughes for £42.3m. JJB, the country's largest sports retailer, plans to operate Liverpool-based TJ Hughes as an independent division if the proposals get shareholder backing. The move comes four months after TJ Hughes first announced it was involved in takeover talks with a number of interested parties.

TJ Hughes, which has 36 stores, has grown sharply in recent years, but profits were hit last year by stock control difficulties.

PASSENGERS RETURN: The UK's major airports last month registered their first increase in passenger traffic since the September 11 terror attacks. Airports operator BAA said greater competition among low-cost airlines fuelled the rise, although North Atlantic routes were continuing to improve. More than 8.2 million people passed through BAA's seven UK airports, 0.3 per cent up on last February.

PROFITS FALL: Concrete and cement group RMC has seen its profits fall as a result of tough conditions in the German market. Earnings in Germany slumped from £49.1m to just £4.6m and offset a strong performance from the group's UK business. Pre-tax profits across the group were £161.5m, down from £363.1m a year earlier when figures were lifted by a £216m profit from the disposal of Great Mills.

WATER SALE: Scottish Power has announced the £2bn sale of its Southern Water arm to First Aqua, a group of private and institutional investors backed by Royal Bank of Scotland. Southern Water supplies a million homes in south-east England and was put up for sale last year as part of Scottish Power's focus on the energy sector.

CD CLOSURE: Music group EMI is to close a CD manufacturing plant in Swindon with the loss of 192 jobs. EMI plans to consolidate the operation into a larger plant in the Netherlands because of over-capacity in the sector.

TOP 50: Newcastle-based advertising agency Robson Brown has broken into the top 50 of the UK's best performing agencies. Industry publication Campaign ranked Robson Brown number 48 out of 300 UK agencies.