BOC announces 13% profits: Gases group BOC lifted first quarter profits by 13 per cent yesterday, but said its semiconductor arm continued to face challenging trading conditions. The group, which employs 46,000 people across the world, and 80 in Teesside, announced profits of £13m for the three months to December 31 - a performance at the top end of market expectations. All five business segments showed profits growth on a year earlier, although sales in the division serving electronics firms fell below the level of the last two quarters. As well as cautious demand from customers, the company said profits had been affected by the weak dollar.

BOSSES CHOSEN:The group circling Woolworths has lined up the former bosses of hardware store Robert Dyas to run the chain if it is successful, it has been reported. Private equity firm Apax Partners has teamed up with retailers Roger Pedder and Brent Wilkinson on its potential bid for the sweets-to-toys chain, according to newspaper reports. The respective former chairman and chief executive of Robert Dyas shared a multi-million pound windfall when they sold the group to a private equity group last year. Mr Pedder is also head of the Clarks shoe chain. Apax revealed yesterday that it was at the early stage of considering a bid for Woolies, in a move that lifted the retailer's shares 22 per cent

RECORD USERS: Virgin Mobile said customer numbers had broken through the five million barrier after it added a record number of new users over the Christmas quarter. The group also said it had made a good start to 2005 and was on track to hit City profits expectations for the full year, despite customer revenues slipping in the third quarter. Chief executive Tom Alexander said the figures showed the company continued to expand in a very competitive market.