KPN was a perfectly good company while it confined itself to Holland but

KPN was a perfectly good company while it confined itself to Holland, but like so many others it developed delusions of grandeur and expensively bought into a second-rate German mobile company, E-Plus, and then even more expensively dug deep for a German 3G licence with which to sustain it. Even shorn of its core Dutch fixed-line business, it is not clear that KPN holds any immediate attractions for TIM, though as ever it would depend on the terms of any deal.In any event, it doesn't appear that any union is imminent, for all KPN's flirtation. Eventually, another pan-European mobile operator will be created. The advantages of scale, balance sheet strength, shared cost, purchasing, tariff structures and billing systems make it almost inevitable. But the timing may not yet be right.¿ So farewell then Sir Brian Pitman, chairman of Lloyds TSB Or perhaps not.

It is tempting with Sir Brian's final departure from Lloyds TSB yesterday after 49 years with the bank to write that he's bowing out on a sour note, with the bank past its best and ill prepared for the new century. Yesterday's AGM in Edinburgh was a lack lustre affair, not nearly as good, Sir Brian would have remarked, as the one where protesters stripped bare in protest over Third World debt.But the accolades will come thick and fast at his leaving bash in the City tonight, and for the most part, they will be well deserved. Sir Brian transformed Lloyds from the smallest of the big four English clearers into what was at its peak easily the biggest and most efficiently run. That the others have since learned Sir Brian's tricks and focus on shareholder value is a tribute to his standing in and influence on the industry. Lloyds may have lost its way a little in recent years, but it is still a mighty robust and powerful organisation, easily capable of being a leader in the coming round of European consolidation.As for Sir Brian, in his own mind he's already moved on. His chairmanship of Next, his directorship of Carlton, his internet insurance venture, all these things continue to excite and reinvigorate his interest in business life.

We've not seen the last of Sir Brian, or his influence.¿ j.warner independent.co.uk. ABF; VTR; NXT Peter Jackson, chief executive of Associated British Foods, has been quietly reorganising this slumbering giant, though it is still a business that fails to set the pulse racing. Mr Jackson has restructured ABF into eight divisions compared to the previous 22. He has also sold under-performing assets such as Burtons Biscuits, ice cream, UK oils and its abattoir and pigs operation (a well timed exit if ever there was one.) Instead he has been investing in food ingredients while improving efficiencies at the remaining grocery businesses such as Allied Bakeries, maker of the Kingsmill loaf.Yesterday's half-year profits of £191m, excluding proceeds from disposals were at the top end of expectations and the shares duly ticked up 4.75p to 433.25p. But though the shares are well up from their 12-month low of 335p in September they are also well below their 521p peak in December and have not benefited as much as expected from the tech-wreck.This might seem odd as ABF is about as defensive as you can get without sticking your money under the mattress However, there could be several reasons for the drag. One is the £1bn-plus cash pile which the City would like to see invested sooner rather than later. Another is that ABF is a conglomerate with some lowly rated commodity operations such as British Sugar. Added to this is the Weston family's 60 per cent stake which makes the stock relatively illiquid and the business virtually takeover proof.There are some jewels here but they are struggling to shine through.

One is Primark, the discount retail chain which continues to power ahead with booming sales and profits Mr Jackson says he has no plans to demerge it. But the danger is that Primark's benefits are overshadowed in the mix of ABF's emphasis on exciting issues such as "new resin separation technology" (in British Sugar) and "increased demand for crystalline sorbitol (ingredients)".On full-year profits forecasts of £395m the shares trade on a forward multiple of 12. They are not going to soar from here but they still represent a safe haven in difficult markets. Hold.¿ Interim results yesterday from VTR, the Soho-based video and film post-production company, showed the sort of progress that this column expected when we recommended the shares last year.