PRESS DIGEST - Financial Times =3

TOP FOUR BRANDS ALSO THE MOST HATED

A survey by Marketing magazine has found Tesco (TSCO.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Manchester United, British Airways (BAY.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), and The Sun newspaper to be the most loved and most hated brands in their respective sectors. Virgin Media's climb from last year's 140th most-loved internet service provider to this year's sixth was attributed by the magazine to a strong disapproval rating for AOL and British Sky Broadcasting (BSY.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the company's main competitors. The survey also revealed a negative reaction by UK consumers to brands closely associated with the economy, with the most popular finance companies and banks only just registering a 10 percent approval rating. "Financial brands are much more strongly disliked this year and I think that must be to do with the credit crunch,' said Marketing.

INTERNATIONAL POWER GROWS IN NORTH AMERICA

Bucking the trend that has seen a number of British utilities retreat from North America in the past few years, the London-listed International Power (IPR.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) is to spend 856 million dollars on the acquisition of generating plants in West Virginia, Illinois, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Chief executive Philip Cox says the acquisition will increase the company's total generating power by a total of 1,857MW and would complement its existing 'portfolio of power stations in North America'. Shares lost 2.25 pence at 421.75 pence.

SOUTHERN CROSS HEALTHCARE SEEKS ACQUISITIONS

Shares in Southern Cross Healthcare (SCHE.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) climbed almost six percent after the firm announced a rise in turnover of 28 percent to 431 million pounds in the six months to March 31. As Britain's biggest care home provider absorbed rising rent and staffing costs, it had pre-tax losses of 8.6 million pounds against 600,000 pounds of pre-tax profits last year. Declaring his wish to buy smaller care home competitors, chief executive Bill Colvin increased his acquisition facility from 60 million pounds to 108 million pounds. The company may bid for Britain's fifth-biggest care home group, Craegmoor Healthcare.

Prepared for Reuters by Durrants.