Business News in Brief: 07/11/2010

Tesco joins international phone call market

Supermarket giant Tesco moved into the international calls market today with the launch of low-cost Tesco International Calling Cards.

It has been trying the cards in 1,000 Metro and Express stores countrywide and said more than one card had been sold every minute. Calls to more than 60 countries can be made for 2p a minute. Lance Batchelor, the chief executive of Tesco Telecoms and Tesco Mobile values the international calls market at £250m a year.

Dyke tells BBC its top salaries are too high

Greg Dyke, the former director-general of the BBC, has again criticised the corporation over executive salaries. Mr Dyke said last week that the BBC had recently been given a "rough time" but "didn't help themselves by paying themselves too much". He added: "It doesn't help if the chief executive of a public-sector organisation is paid £900,000 a year, but never underestimate the hatred of the media of the BBC."

BHP investors give up on idea of PotashCorp bid

Shareholders in Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan believe that BHP Billiton, the world's biggest miner, will soon give up trying to wrest control of the Canadian group. BHP's US$39bn bid is in serious trouble after Canadian authorities blocked it last week. BHP can appeal, but a shareholder who had hoped for a deal to be completed said that that the miner would now have to make concessions to secure PotashCorp.