He sold 200,000 free shares given to him under the company's Long Term Incentive Plan [LTIP], at 710.5p a share on Tuesday, netting £1.4m.Mr Ball, chief executive since 1999, has already made millions by selling Sky shares over the years, and is one of the best paid directors in the UK. Mr Ball is probably also the most highly regarded television executive in the country, and an apparent favourite of the company's chairman, Rupert Murdoch. Assets under management rose to Swfr2,168bn at the end of June from Swfr1,994bn at end-March, as markets firmed. However, net new-money inflows eased quarter-on-quarter to Swfr14.4bn from Swfr17.1bn.. UBS, which has largely refrained from the mass job cuts that were seen at many other banks, said it had continued to keep a tight grip on costs over the quarter, cutting operating expenses by 7 per cent from a year ago. The good result vindicated UBS's president, Peter Wuffli, who said in May that three years of falling equity prices had come to a halt, calling an end to the bear market. However, Mr Wuffli tried to contain expectations for the rest of the year, saying that his optimism was "tinged with caution"."Investors remain concerned about future economic prospects, and confidence in the financial markets has not yet fully been restored," Mr Wuffli said.

However, most experts expect the Government to block all bidders bar Morrison. A fifth potential bid for Safeway from Philip Green, the BHS and Arcadia owner, was not part of the commission's inquiry.. Although the Bentonville-based group does not break out Asda's contribution, it said operating profits at its international businesses grew by 19 per cent. Asda "exceeded" its profit plan for the quarter and year to day, it added.Asda said its George clothing range had strengthened its position as the country's number two clothing retailer by volume behind Marks & Spencer, maintaining double digit growth in the quarter.

Asda, the Wal-Mart-owned retailer battling for control of Safeway, rubbed salt in Sainsbury's wounds yesterday by reporting a strong rise in underlying sales. Doing well on the non-food side also gives them an edge."News of strong trading at Asda came as its parent posted a 20 per cent jump in profits to $2.44bn (£1.52bn) for the three months to end-July. Underlying sales, including higher-margin non-food lines, also grew by high single digits.Mark Hughes, a food analyst at Numis Securities, said: "Everyday low pricing is working very, very well for Asda and others like Tesco and William Morrison. "These two companies currently claim 83 per cent of the value of the US market and between them have three times the marketing scale and budget of AstraZeneca.

Our contention has always been that the cost of penetrating this market successfully may be higher than generally envisaged.". Its shares were among the best performers in the FTSE 100, closing 47 points higher at 2,536p.Investors were particularly cheered by the wording of the safety label demanded by the FDA. WS Atkins's annual report and accounts, published yesterday, revealed Mr Southwell had been awarded a total pay package of £606,000, compared to £376,000 the year before.The payment breaks down into £175,000 of salary and fees, £31,000 of other benefits such as medical insurance and car, £399,810 as compensation for loss of office and a £76,000 pension contribution.Under his contract, he was entitled to a payment equal to 12 months of salary, pension contributions and other benefits. Sales there slumped 25 per cent to £3.9m.No real improvement is expected in either of these divisions in the second half of the year.The bright spot was the company's law division, which reported a 45 per cent rise in sales to £9.7m in the first half, and which is expected to continue on a positive trend for the rest of the year.BPP said it also saw a solid performance from its accountancy and tax division as well as from its actuarial and academic education businesses in the first half."Our financial services and language training businesses continue to suffer in adverse conditions.