Adieu to the man from the Pru, and QXL stays brave

NEWS According to the Financial Times, the Pru's CEO claimed 90 per cent of its customers deal with the company through phone or post. The life assurer will cut 1,400 direct sales jobs in the next year, along with a number of sales support employees. The sales force will be replaced by around 250 advisers to concentrate on "affluent" customers... QXL is trying to sound bullish in the face of a new threat from eBay. The UK-based auction site, which recently announced a £41.1m pre-tax loss for its latest quarter, claims that eBay's intention to get a foothold in Europe will not adversely impact its operations. eBay has been linked with a possible takeover of French auction outfit iBazar. The FT quotes Jim Rose, chief executive of QXL Ricardo, as saying: "We compete with these people today and have for a number of years; [if the deal happens] they will just be changing the name. I think there is space for both QXL and eBay, at least in the bigger markets." Although QXL is burning £10m a quarter, it made a gross profit of £733,000 in the three months to 31 December, and has over £60m in the bank - enough to see it through to profitability, at least according to Rose... And finally, in the spirit of Valentine's Day, two online dating agencies have decided to get hitched. UK-based UPDate.com has agreed to buy $17m for Seattle-based competitor Kiss.com, which in the tradition of modern marriages will keep its name. The companies will share a customer base of 3.3 million users...