Business week in review

In profit...

A few years ago, star lawyer Anthony Salz said he was refocusing his career to spend more time "thinking about individual clients and their ambitions and worries". The former BBC governor is likely to only have time for the latter with his latest cause célèbre.

On Tuesday, Salz was tasked with a root-and-branch review of Barclays in the wake of the Libor scandal. The bank is committed to implementing his recommendations in full.

ITV boss Adam Crozier saw the broadcaster's underlying profit rise 15 per cent to £235m off revenue of £1.13bn on Thursday.

On Friday, Jardine Lloyd Thompson's head Dominic Burke revealed an 11 per cent pre-tax profit hike in the insurance holding company's interim results.

...at a loss

Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel was rattled on Tuesday by signs of its economic might wilting in the face of the European debt crisis.

Moody's threatened to downgrade the powerhouse's AAA rating after data suggested a possible decline in manufacturing due to falling exports.

BT boss Ian Livingston was downbeat on Wednesday, moaning that "continental Europe has got worse rather than better" after the headline profit at its Global Services division slumped 14 per cent in the past three months.

On Friday, Anglo American head Cynthia Carroll disclosed a 38 per cent fall in the miner's first-half operating profit.