The company's investors pledged to stand by it. The telecomms company was last night on the point of pledging not to repeat the payout, today's FT reported. DirectLine has launched an online car dealership for new and second-hand cars online.
Customers also get to sell their cars online.
The better than expected profit, attributed to global expansion, caused shares to leap 12 per cent. Jellyworks, the Internet investment company, has fallen victim to a reverse takeover by Shore Capital, the company announced yesterday. A spokesman for Jellyworks said that its portfolio of quoted and unquoted investments would be better off as part of a larger investment banking operation. Online bill paying in the UK may arrive a little later than expected. Apacs, the clearing house for banks and building societies had planned to introduce an industry-wide scheme, but now admits that not all the banks concerned are officially on board.