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The Citizens Advice Bureau today claimed it had seen record numbers of people seeking advice over debt.

But Provident said defaults in its home credit division rose just 0.9% to 107.4m in the first half of the year, and did not expect that to increase in the second half.

The company had dodged the worst of the credit crunch by borrowing about 1bn to lend out to its customers in July, before the markets turmoil bit.

In fact, Provident said it was benefiting from the crisis as High Street banks had moved out of its subprime lending homeland.

It made a one-off gain in the first six months of the year of 68.4m from selling its car insurance arm to GMAC, and pre-tax profits jumped 19% to 38.2m.

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Bailiffs free to enter homes
Provident to split after insurance sale
Provident Insurance up for sale

The deal gives Stelios Haji-Iaonnou’s low-cost airline take-off and landing slots at Gatwick for 28 new routes and adds 15 relatively new Airbus aircraft to the 107-strong easyJet fleet.

GB Airways is being sold by the Bland Group - a privately owned travel and tourism conglomerate which has run GB as a franchisee for easyJet’s rival .

BA said it turned down an offer to buy the business.

Although primarily a Gatwick operator, GB also runs out of Heathrow. Those slots are excluded from today’s deal.

EasyJet has been keen to expand its Gatwick operations because of its lucrative catchment area in the South-East. Gatwick has been EasyJet’s biggest base for some time.

After the deal, easyJet will operate nearly a quarter of Gatwick’s slots.

As part of the deal, GB Airways’ franchise agreement with BA has now been scrapped.

BA chief executive Willie Walsh said: ‘UK franchises have outlived their purpose.’

Most of GB’s routes run to destinations across southern Europe and North Africa. Its profits last year were 2.6 million from carrying 2.8 million passengers.

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High-flying Easyjet to land 200m
German challenger to Ryanair and easyJet
Budget airlines fly high with August boom
EasyJet sees 18% growth in passengers
EasyJet soars after buyer snaps up 20m shares
Not-so-cheap frills that boost Ryanair
BA’s secret plan to beat European rivals
Buyout firms could quit UK if taxes rise
Foreign travellers avoiding Heathrow
US targets BA chiefs in price-fixing probe

The Canadian dollar’s upward charge continued unabated Monday, as it topped $1.05 US to reach its highest level since March 1960.

The loonie was quoted at $1.0501 US in mid-afternoon trading, up more thana full cent from Friday’s close.

It later slipped back to close at $1.0496, up 1.03 cents US.

That leaves the Canadian dollara little more thanone centaway from its postwar high of $1.0614 US, set in August 1957.

Rising oil prices and the likelihood of an imminent interest rate cut in the U.S. were giving the loonie more support on Monday.

Crude oil futures topped a record $93 US a barrel in New York tradingas an approaching storm prompted Mexico to shut about a fifth of its oil production.

Risingcommodity prices tend to boost the value of Canada’s currency, as Canada is a net exporter of oil and many other commodities. Gold prices were also surging Monday, up another $4.80 to $792.30 US an ouncea new 28-year high.

The U.S. dollarfell to a record low against the euro on Monday. On Wednesday, the U.S. Federal Reserve is widely expected to cut its key overnight lending rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 4.50 per cent.

That would equal the Bank of Canada’s overnight lending rate and would erase the interest rate differential between Canada and the U.S.

The speed of the loonie’s recent rise has been astonishing up about 10 cents US just since the start ofSeptember.

Since the start of the year, the Canadian dollar has appreciated by22 per cent. Its rise since the 62-cent US depths of early 2002 has been almost 70 per cent.

A critical deal for troubled credit markets faces fresh uncertainty as doubts grow over the refinancing of the Cheyne Finance SIV - Financial Times

The Olympics will give a 21 billion boost to the economy -Financial Times

Ofcom warns against a European Commission proposal to expand its powers over the telecoms industry - Financial Times

Dubai International Capital buys a $1.25 billion stake in American hedge fund Och-Ziff - Independent

admits cigarette sales fell more than expected in England after the introduction of the ban on smoking in public places - Independent

A hedge fund has demanded that steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal exclude himself from a shareholder vote on the terms of the merger of Arcelor and Mittal - Independent

Plans by to launch a new airline between Europe and New York may be scuppered by US aviation authorities - The Times

News Corporation opens a 60 million printing plant in Scotland - The Times

offers Abu Dhabi a green solution to its gas supply problems - The Times

Credit Suisse forecasts that the price of gold will soar above $1,000 per ounce as dwindling supply of the metal combines with growing demand - Daily Telegraph

Competition between supermarkets will intensify over the next five years as leading chains fight to increase their share of consumer spending, according to retail consultants Verdict Research - Daily Telegraph

Bear Stearns boss Jimmy Cayne is under pressure from investors in the bank’s two collapsed hedge funds who are calling for probes into their demise - Daily Telegraph

Former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan warns of further falls in US property prices - Guardian

BAA workers are considering strike action in a row over pensions, leaving passengers facing major disruptions in the run-up to Christmas - Guardian

Billionaire Warren Buffet says he should be paying more tax - Guardian

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Race on to harness wavepower for energy
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Blunders could kill off Qataris’ Sainsbury bid
Call for full inquiry into Rock crisis

U.S. crude oil futures ended more than $4 higher and near the record high on Wednesday after the U.S. Federal Reserve announced a widely expected quarter-percentage-point cut in interest rates.

Earlier, crude rallied to above $94 after U.S. government inventory data at midmorning showed domestic crude supplies slumped last week, defying analysts’ forecast for an increase.

The biggest portion of the drawdown came from Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery hub for oil traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange, sparking the sharp rebound in crude futures, after a $3 drop on Tuesday.

“The energy markets had assumed a percentage point interest rate cut by the Fed, but there were still some that expected the cut to be point, so you saw a rally above $94,” said Tom Knight, trader at Truman Arnold in Texarkana, Texas.

Knight said while he expected some selling, he expected prices to firm after the $4 rise.

Trailing crude, heating oil and gasoline futures gained further, despite inventory data showing big increases.

On the NYMEX, December crude oil settled up $4.15 or 4.6% at $94.53, a record-high settlement, after trading from $88.92 to $94.74, the highest price for a front-month contract since the exchange launched crude futures in 1983.

The previous record was set on Monday, at $93.80.

“The report is obviously bullish, the huge draw in crude was counter to expectations,” said Tom Bentz, analyst at BNP Paribas Commodity Futures in New York. “The draw in Cushing of over 3 million barrels is what is behind it.”

Bets that December crude would rise to $100 increased as traders bought more options on the contract at that strike price.

In London, December Brent crude gained $3.19 or 3.6% at $90.63, after trading from $86.13 to a record $90.94.

In New York, NYMEX November heating oil leaped 8.32 cents or 3.4% to $2.5078 a gallon, trading from $2.40 to $2.5218, which surpassed Monday’s $2.4720 record.

November RBOB ended 8.29 cents or 3.7% higher at $2.34 a gallon, after trading from $2.24 to $2.36, the highest since July 11’s $2.3605.

The Fed cut the overnight federal funds rate by a quarter percentage point to 4.5%, but said the risk of inflation was roughly equal to downside risks to growth, suggesting further rate reductions are far from a sure bet.