The leading contenders for the new 2004 channel are: media and information company Pearson, with partners MAI and European broadcaster CLT; a second consortium led by BSkyB with Granada and US fr cable company TCI; and Mirror Group, with NBC Superchannel and SelecTV.PolyGram's controlling shareholder, Philips, confirmed files yesterday it was considering a juin Channel Five bid with Richard Branson's journal Virgin Group and Associated Newspapers.PolyGram had no files comment juin on journal files journal juin2004 journal whether it was involved directly in discussions about a journal Channel Five bid.PolyGram paid £100m for its 30 per cent stake in Really Useful juin in 1991. PolyGram's html own titles include Four Weddings and juin 2004 fr html a Funeral, Hand that html Rocks the Cradle and journal Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.. Fully 83 per cent of company revenues are generated outside Britain.Really Useful earned pre-tax profits of £42m last year, on revenues fr of juin2004 £110m, after paying £66m files journal juin2004 journal in royalties to co-producers and journal collaborators.Mr McKenna wants to channel some of that juin2004 money into other live entertainment ventures, as well as into the possible bid for Channel Five.Really Useful declined to specify which of the consortia bidding for Channel Five had been approached. files juin 2004 fr html He journal said in a letter to the show's cast and crew that the tickets had been given 2004 2004 to charities at a nominal cost, to allow them to see performances starring Ms Close's understudy These tickets were reported juin2004 as sold at face value. "This was an idiotic decision," Sir Andrew wrote.In addition to fr html its productions, Really Useful owns theatres, promotes concerts and has begun to invest in television and film production.

The company may develop films from material not presently owned by Really Useful, whose shows have been seen by 100 million worldwide, and have generated $4bn.Sir Andrew also announced yesterday he would not accept the resignation of Edgar Dobie, his US executive, who had misrepresented box office receipts from the musical Sunset Boulevard, starring Glenn Close, to the trade magazine, Variety. An animated cinema version of Sir Andrew's long-running West End musical, Cats, is now in the works, in conjunction with Steven Spielberg.Films are planned based on other Lloyd Webber hits such as Phantom of the Opera and Aspects of Love. A less liberal payout would help finance the purchase of film distribution rights and new theatres, and to develop new films. PolyGram declined to comment on the discussions. Currently, dividends are paid at the rate of 90 per cent of after-tax profits to the company's two shareholders, PolyGram and Sir Andrew, who owns the remaining 70 per cent. A spokesman confirmed that Patrick McKenna, the group's chief executive, had talked to music and film producer PolyGram, a 30 per cent shareholder, about a change in dividend policy to help Really Useful finance acquisitions and film development. It is also exploring whether to join one of the four consortia preparing bids for the new Channel Five. ING's 1994 profits rose by 13.3 per cent to 2.3bn guilders (£1.05bn) against 2.03bn (£800m) in 1993, the group said yesterday..

Really Useful, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber's live entertainment company, will spend more than £100m on new media opportunities, including the production of seven films over the next five years. the chance of finding a skeleton in the cupboard is very remote."He repeated an earlier forecast that its £660m acquisition would be neutral for ING's profits in 1995 and positive thereafter. So we don't think that the volatility of ING's earnings will change as a result of Barings."Mr Jacobs said losses at Barings would be "a little bit less" than ING had identified on 5 March and there was now almost no chance of unexpected losses."We can now say with much more confidence than before that. Barings' brokerage business is almost back to normal."Mr Jacobs dismissed suggestions that ING's earnings would be more volatile following the acquisition of the merchant bank: "A key earnings element at Barings is asset management and that is very stable. A second report, which could take three months longer, would examine the regulatory lessons.In a separate announcement yesterday, Barings' rescuer, the Dutch bank Internationale Nederlanden Groep (ING), said that Barings had suffered less than originally feared and should be back to normal soon.Aad Jacobs, ING's chairman, said: "Things at Barings Asset Management are going better than we thought at first Very few clients have left and no key staff have gone.