The Business Matrix: Friday 12 October 2012

Rangers FC plans to raise £20m

Rangers FC, which was banished from the Scottish Premier League after plunging into administration, is looking to raise £20m by selling shares on the London's junior AIM market. The money will be used to buy better players and provide "working capital", the club, bought by Charles Green for £5.5m, said yesterday.

Heathrow breaks passenger record

The BAA chief executive Colin Matthews pressed the case for Heathrow expansion again yesterday, as passenger numbers at Europe's busiest airport hit a new September record of 6.3 million. There were 14 per cent more passengers from Brazil than a year ago, and 5.9 per cent more Chinese. The only fall was Indian visitors (7 per cent).

South Korea cuts interest rates

South Korea's central bank has cut interest rates for the second time in four months as it tries to ease Asia's fourth-largest economy through a global slowdown. Bank of Korea governor Kim Choong-soo said: "The rate cut will result in more good than bad." The bank cut its base rate 25 basis points to 2.75 per cent.

Air Partners see profits dive

The private plane provider Air Partner's profits and revenues tumbled last year. Profits dropped 44 per cent to £3.2m while revenues fell 19 per cent to £228m. But private jet revenues actually rose by 8 per cent. The major downturn was in commercial jet and freight orders.

Deals done for mobile banking

The mobile banking firm Monitise said there was "continued momentum" in its business after deals with Bank of China (Hong Kong) and IT firm Cognizant. More than 17 million customers now have access to services delivered by its technology.

Web pawnbroker Borro finds funds

The boom in short-term lending firms shows no sign of abating as the "online pawnbroker" Borro won £16m in new funding. US-based Canaan Partners and Ribbit Capital are leading the investment in Borro, which lends against items such as jewellery, watches and cars. Its annual percentage rate for sums under £19,999 is 68.8 per cent.

Ashmore boosts assets by 6.8%

Strong inflows from Middle East and Asian sovereign wealth funds helped emerging markets fund manager Ashmore boost its assets by 6.8 per cent in the last three months. On the performance side currencies and blended debt were particularly strong helping raise the value of assets by $3.7bn.

China raises heat over US tariffs

China has called on the US to repeal steep tariffs on solar panels as trade tensions between the two nations heated up. The US Commerce Department is imposing taxes of up to 250 per cent on Chinese solar panel products to counter what it argues are improper subsidies by Beijing to the industry.

Abramovich supports AFC

Roman Abramovich has taken a 15 per cent stake in hydrogen fuel-cell technology firm AFC Energy. The purchase of £8.7m of new shares by the Russian billionaire will enable AFC to focus on developing its technology for industrial and utility-scale use.

You're hired, apprentices told

Qinetiq is extending its apprenticeship scheme with the recruitment of a further 75 trainees over the next year. This adds to the 109 in place on the defence technology group's four-year programme at MoD Boscombe Down, Wiltshire.