Fifty Shades boosts UK book sales

1 May 2013 Last updated at 07:55 GMT The Fifty Shades trilogy took the top three spots in the 2012 best-sellers chart British publishers have reported record sales for 2012, despite the recession and the rise of e-readers.

Total spending on printed and digital books rose 4% to £3.3bn last year, the Publishers Association said.

Digital spending rose by 66% to £411m. But it does not appear to have led to a marked decline for print, with physical book sales down by just 1% at £2.9bn.

EL James's Fifty Shades trilogy were the best-selling titles in 2012, with combined sales of 10.5 million.

The series took the top three spots in the 2012 best-sellers chart, according to figures released by sales tracker Nielsen at the end of the year.

The rise of such e-readers as Amazon's Kindle has sparked a surge in digital sales in recent years. But fears they would kill off physical books have so far proved exaggerated.

Publishers Association chief executive Richard Mollet said the figures proved that publishers had reacted quickly to the changes in the industry and the move towards e-readers.

He said British publishing was "a healthy industry which continues to grow".

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"What publishers were very quick to do [was] to make works available," he told the BBC.

BBC News joined the Camden Girls Book Group to get their take on Fifty Shades of Grey

"That's the key to succeeding in the digital world - having them capable of being read on any device on any platform.

"That's what readers said they wanted and that's what publishers have been able to provide. It's now the case that a quarter of all fiction is read on e-readers."

Mollet said the Publishers Association was working closely with high street booksellers and would soon launch a scheme to help them overcome challenges in the physical books market.

"At the moment we are concerned that independent book shops are finding it tough. Everybody wants there to be a range of ways of getting books, online and on the high street."

Philip Jones, editor of industry magazine The Bookseller, said shops such as Waterstones were seeing a "rebound" in sales of physical books, thanks to children's and non-fiction areas and the "growing" market of books such as Fifty Shades of Grey.

The 'death' of the physical book was a long way off, he continued, pointing out that physical book sales still made up around 80% of the overall market.

"Digital is overtaking it in some areas but not all areas, so I think the physical book is going to be with us for a long time," he told the BBC.

"The premium physical book, the £20 hardback... attracts a certain type of person who wants to keep that book on their shelves."

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Swedish salmon sales 'breached ban'

8 May 2013 Last updated at 15:57 GMT The salmon issue again highlights the complexity of Europe's food chain Firms in Sweden have sold about 200 tonnes of Baltic salmon in Europe despite an EU ban targeting toxic chemicals in fish, officials say.

The ban does not apply to Baltic salmon sold to domestic consumers in Sweden, Finland and Latvia. But the sellers are required to give advice about safe limits for consumption, set by the EU.

Dioxins found in Baltic herring and salmon prompted the EU ban in 2002.

A French firm imported 103 tonnes of Swedish salmon, but no longer does so.

Pecheries Nordiques told the AFP news agency that its tests had found no problems with the fish, imported in 2011 and 2012. "Nobody told us it was illegal," chief executive Francois Agussol said.

Jan Sjoegren of Sweden's National Food Agency told the BBC that Baltic salmon had also been exported illegally to Denmark and the Netherlands from Sweden.

The agency has alerted the European Commission, which deals with national food safety authorities.

A firm in Karlskrona has been reported to the Swedish customs authorities over the salmon exports, and a firm in Hammaroe is also being investigated, Mr Sjoegren said.

Dioxin hazard

The latest alert about Baltic salmon exports follows a horsemeat contamination scandal in the EU which affected many countries.

"We don't think more salmon is being exported now, but because of the horsemeat scandal we are stepping up action on food fraud," Mr Sjoegren said.

Sweden's National Food Agency says the average intake of dioxins among adult Swedes is well below the "tolerable weekly intake" set by the EU.

Children and young women, it adds, should especially limit their consumption of wild Baltic fish because dioxins pose the most risk to babies and young children.

Dioxins spread by incineration and chemical pollution can accumulate in the body over years and can trigger cancer or reproductive abnormalities.

The European Food Safety Authority says that, on average, Baltic herring and wild Baltic salmon are respectively 3.5 and five times more contaminated with dioxins than non-Baltic herring and farmed salmon.

View the original article here

Swedish salmon sales 'breached ban'

8 May 2013 Last updated at 15:57 GMT The salmon issue again highlights the complexity of Europe's food chain Firms in Sweden have sold about 200 tonnes of Baltic salmon in Europe despite an EU ban targeting toxic chemicals in fish, officials say.

The ban does not apply to Baltic salmon sold to domestic consumers in Sweden, Finland and Latvia. But the sellers are required to give advice about safe limits for consumption, set by the EU.

Dioxins found in Baltic herring and salmon prompted the EU ban in 2002.

A French firm imported 103 tonnes of Swedish salmon, but no longer does so.

Pecheries Nordiques told the AFP news agency that its tests had found no problems with the fish, imported in 2011 and 2012. "Nobody told us it was illegal," chief executive Francois Agussol said.

Jan Sjoegren of Sweden's National Food Agency told the BBC that Baltic salmon had also been exported illegally to Denmark and the Netherlands from Sweden.

The agency has alerted the European Commission, which deals with national food safety authorities.

A firm in Karlskrona has been reported to the Swedish customs authorities over the salmon exports, and a firm in Hammaroe is also being investigated, Mr Sjoegren said.

Dioxin hazard

The latest alert about Baltic salmon exports follows a horsemeat contamination scandal in the EU which affected many countries.

"We don't think more salmon is being exported now, but because of the horsemeat scandal we are stepping up action on food fraud," Mr Sjoegren said.

Sweden's National Food Agency says the average intake of dioxins among adult Swedes is well below the "tolerable weekly intake" set by the EU.

Children and young women, it adds, should especially limit their consumption of wild Baltic fish because dioxins pose the most risk to babies and young children.

Dioxins spread by incineration and chemical pollution can accumulate in the body over years and can trigger cancer or reproductive abnormalities.

The European Food Safety Authority says that, on average, Baltic herring and wild Baltic salmon are respectively 3.5 and five times more contaminated with dioxins than non-Baltic herring and farmed salmon.

View the original article here

Vodafone sales hit by European slump

21 May 2013 Last updated at 07:27 GMT Tough economic conditions in Italy and Spain have hit Vodafone Mobile giant Vodafone's full-year sales have slipped for the first time in eight years after tough economic conditions in Europe hit revenues.

Annual revenues fell 4.4% to £44.4bn, after the firm cut prices in Europe in an attempt to retain customers.

In Italy service revenue fell 12.8%, while in Spain it dropped 11.5%.

Vodafone said it had written down the value of its businesses in Italy and Spain by a further £1.8bn, taking the total writedown for the year to £7.7bn.

The writedowns meant that earnings after taxation plunged to £673m in the group's financial year to the end of March, compared with £7bn in 2011-2012.

"We have faced headwinds from a combination of continued tough economic conditions, particularly in Southern Europe, and an adverse European regulatory environment," chief executive Vittorio Colao said.

However, Mr Colao said he remained "very excited" about Vodafone's longer term prospects.

Verizon Wireless, the US mobile operator 45%-owned by Vodafone, was the one bright spot in the results. Vodafone received a 30.5% year-on-year rise in the profits from its stake to £6.4bn.

There has been speculation over whether Vodafone will sell off its stake in Verizon Wireless, worth an estimated £88bn, an amount almost equal to Vodafone's total market capitalisation.

However, on a conference call following the results Mr Colao said that he had "nothing new to announce" about its stake in Verizon Wireless, and added that it was a "fantastic asset".

View the original article here

Swedish salmon sales 'breached ban'

8 May 2013 Last updated at 15:57 GMT The salmon issue again highlights the complexity of Europe's food chain Firms in Sweden have sold about 200 tonnes of Baltic salmon in Europe despite an EU ban targeting toxic chemicals in fish, officials say.

The ban does not apply to Baltic salmon sold to domestic consumers in Sweden, Finland and Latvia. But the sellers are required to give advice about safe limits for consumption, set by the EU.

Dioxins found in Baltic herring and salmon prompted the EU ban in 2002.

A French firm imported 103 tonnes of Swedish salmon, but no longer does so.

Pecheries Nordiques told the AFP news agency that its tests had found no problems with the fish, imported in 2011 and 2012. "Nobody told us it was illegal," chief executive Francois Agussol said.

Jan Sjoegren of Sweden's National Food Agency told the BBC that Baltic salmon had also been exported illegally to Denmark and the Netherlands from Sweden.

The agency has alerted the European Commission, which deals with national food safety authorities.

A firm in Karlskrona has been reported to the Swedish customs authorities over the salmon exports, and a firm in Hammaroe is also being investigated, Mr Sjoegren said.

Dioxin hazard

The latest alert about Baltic salmon exports follows a horsemeat contamination scandal in the EU which affected many countries.

"We don't think more salmon is being exported now, but because of the horsemeat scandal we are stepping up action on food fraud," Mr Sjoegren said.

Sweden's National Food Agency says the average intake of dioxins among adult Swedes is well below the "tolerable weekly intake" set by the EU.

Children and young women, it adds, should especially limit their consumption of wild Baltic fish because dioxins pose the most risk to babies and young children.

Dioxins spread by incineration and chemical pollution can accumulate in the body over years and can trigger cancer or reproductive abnormalities.

View the original article here