Splitting the cash

Some see handing back cash to shareholders as an admission of defeat; a sign that the directors have run out of ideas. Others view it as tight balance sheet management. After all, if you don't need the money then why go on paying to borrow it from shareholders? There may have been a bit of both in British Energy's return of value to shareholders announced in May of this year. But the privatized nuclear power generator's deal deserves closer examination, not least because its terms are more