British telecoms company BT on Friday posted rising annual profits, boosted by cost cutting and keen demand for Internet services, and flagged a rise in the dividend. The news, published the day after BT announced a major deal to offer English Premier League football matches free to anyone paying for broadband and line rental, sent its share price rocketing to the top of the London stock market. Pre-tax profits climbed two percent to £2.50 billion ($2.96 billion, 2.9 billion euros) in the group's financial year to the end of March, BT said in a results statement.

British drugs firm GlaxoSmithKline on Wednesday said its first-quarter net profit tumbled by almost a third, with the group hit by falling sales and a poor economic climate. GSK, which also has a large consumer healthcare division, confirmed that it planned to sell drinks brands Lucozade and Ribena as part of its European restructuring plans. Profit after tax dived to £961 million ($1.47 billion, 1.12 billion euros) in the first quarter from £1.3 billion in the same part of 2012, the pharmaceuticals firm said in a results statement.

By Ben Hirschler LONDON (Reuters) - GlaxoSmithKline is to sell soft drink brands Lucozade and Ribena in a move analysts believe will raise over 1 billion pounds and focus its consumer health business on global products. The plan was announced on Wednesday alongside first-quarter results that saw sales at Britain's biggest drugmaker drop a slightly smaller-than-expected 3 percent from a year ago.

By James Davey LONDON (Reuters) - Tesco <TSCO.L>, Britain's biggest retailer, is expected to report its first fall in underlying annual profit in two decades, reflecting the cost of a turnaround plan launched after last year's shock profit warning. The group, the world's third largest retailer after Wal-Mart <WMT.N> and Carrefour <CARR.PA>, was one of Britain's most consistent companies in terms of earnings growth until it issued the profit alert in January 2012.