The Times
Corporate Britain takes a pounding: Troubles abroad, soaring commodity prices, rising wages and the slump in the pound hit corporate Britain hard, with some of its biggest companies issuing profit warnings.
EE fined £2.7 million for continental drift: the mobile telecoms company was hit with a £2.7 million fine and forced to offer a grovelling apology to the 32,000 customers affected, as well as hading over full refunds, after admitting to the error, which occurred between July 1, 2014, and July 20 last year.
Burberry’s best of British is back in vogue: The weak pound that has lured shoppers from all over the world to London has paid off handsomely for Burberry.
400 jobs go as Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks cut branches by third: Clydesdale Bank and Yorkshire Bank are to close one third of their branches this year with the loss of 400 jobs and potential inconvenience to tens of thousands of account-holders.
Australia raises hopes of Brexit deals for trade without barriers: Britain is ideally placed to secure a services-based trade agreement with Australia, the country’s trade Minister said.
Rolls-Royce Bosses face bribery charges: The Serious Fraud Office is within weeks of bringing criminal prosecutions against individuals caught up in the Rolls-Royce bribery scandal, one of the biggest corruption cases in British corporate history.
French lift stakes again for Lavendon: The takeover battle for Lavendon has hit new heights, with the latest bid for the aerial platform plant hire group valuing it at £459 million, more than double where the shares were at the start of the struggle nearly three months ago.
Ivy creeping to all corners of the capital: The Ivy may be celebrating its centenary this year, but the billionaire owner of the Covent Garden institution is not resting on his laurels. Richard Caring has opened six restaurants in London and one in Bristol, all based on the celebrity haunt. Another eight are in the pipeline for the next six months.
The Independent
Signs of slowdown in house sales in latest RICS survey: There was a drop in house sales activity in December according to the latest Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors survey, suggesting that the overall housing market might be slowing.
Goldman Sachs and Citigroup toast Donald Trump profits windfall: Goldman Sachs and Citigroup both reported fourth-quarter profit that surpassed analysts’ estimates as a bond-trading revival spurred by Donald Trump’s surprise victory lifted earnings across Wall Street.
Fewer than half of small businesses predict they will grow in 2017: Fewer than half of the U.K.’s small and medium-sized businesses believe they will grow in 2017, new research has revealed.
Trump a ‘bizarre’ reflection of people’s discontent with inequality: Lawrence Summers, the former U.S. Treasury Secretary, said the U.S. has just elected “the world’s biggest example of conspicuous consumption.”
IMF’s Lagarde says ‘I told you so’ on populist backlash: The managing Director of the International Monetary Fund said that she experienced a fierce backlash from leading economists when she first warned on the impact of rising equality some four years ago.
More signs of cooling in jobs market after Brexit vote: The numbers in employment slipped for a second successive month in the quarter to November in a tentative sign of the labour market slowing in the wake of last June’s Brexit vote.
Economists criticise May for trying to ‘have her cake and eat it’: Top economists and strategists have warned that Theresa May’s vision of Brexit lacks credibility and clarity, a day after the Prime Minister delivered an agenda-setting speech on Britain’s future outside the EU.
Deutsche Bank agrees to pay £5.8 billion fine over role in subprime crisis: Deutsche Bank agreed to pay $7.2 billion (£5.4 billion) in the U.S. for its illegal conduct and “irresponsible lending practices” before the financial crisis, the Justice Department said on Tuesday.
Financial Times
Manchester Utd knocks Real Madrid from top of football’s rich list: Manchester United may have lost its place at the summit of the English Premier League in recent years, but it has returned to the top of the annual ranking of Europe’s richest football clubs for the first time in more than a decade.
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Sotheby’s files lawsuit over forgery of Italian Old Master: Sotheby’s has filed a lawsuit in New York to demand the vendor of an Italian Old Master painting it “conclusively determined” was a modern-day forgery repay the proceeds of its sale.
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Pearson shares dive 30% after profit warning: Pearson shares fell as much as 30% after the company issued its fifth profits warning in four years and said it planned to sell its stake in Penguin Random House, following what the group called “an unprecedented decline” in its U.S. business.
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OPEC needs output cuts to balance oil market: Opec’s own projections for the oil market show the cartel needs to maintain or increase output cuts beyond the first half of this year if it wants to balance the market, with supply still threatening to overwhelm demand in 2017.
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MasterCard faces overcharging claim from up to 46 million individuals: Up to 46 million individuals could be represented in a £14 billion lawsuit brought against MasterCard for imposing card charges on U.K. consumers in what is set to be one of the U.K.’s first U.S.-style class action cases.
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U.S. biotech Ovid to develop Takeda epilepsy drug in outsourcing tie-up: Takeda, Japan’s largest drugmaker, has outsourced the development of a drug for rare forms of childhood epilepsy to a U.S. biotech company in an unusual deal that underscores the growing importance of smaller companies in bringing new medicines to market.
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Safran offers €10 billion for aircraft seat group Zodiac: French engine maker Safran has launched a €10 billion bid for troubled aeroplane seatmaker Zodiac Aerospace, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter, marking the latest move towards consolidation in the sector.
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Paul McCartney sues Sony unit over rights to Beatles hits: Sir Paul McCartney has sued Sony’s publishing arm as he looks to reclaim U.S. rights to songs he co-wrote with John Lennon in the 1960s and 70s.
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Netflix on track to hit 100 million customers after record growth: Netflix blew past estimates for new customers in the fourth quarter, adding a record 7 million subscribers, as the video streaming company builds on the demand for original hit shows such as The Crown and Stranger Things.
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Carlos Slim to launch TV channel ‘by Mexicans, for Mexicans’ in U.S.: In the week President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in, Mexican telecoms tycoon Carlos Slim has announced he is launching a new television channel “made by Mexicans, for Mexicans” in the U.S. this year.
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Mondelez sale sees Vegemite go back to Australian ownership: Vegemite, the potently-flavoured breakfast spread, is to return to Australian ownership after spending most of its near century of existence in foreign hands, just as sales growth is starting to flag.
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South Korea court denies arrest warrant for Samsung heir: A South Korean court has denied the request of prosecutors to arrest Samsung group heir-apparent and de facto head Lee Jae-yong for his alleged role in a snowballing corruption scandal poised to topple President Park Geun-hye.
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Baidu Chief Executive steps back from day-to-day running of group: Baidu Chief Executive Robin Li is to step back from the day-to-day running of the Chinese search engine giant to take on a more strategic role.
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Etihad Airways Chief stands by long-haul investments: The Chief Executive of Etihad Airways, James Hogan, has mounted a spirited defence of the Abu Dhabi carrier’s strategy of buying stakes in international airlines, despite “significant challenges” with some struggling airlines in Europe.
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Italy’s state railway buys struggling Greek operator: Greece has wrapped up the sale of its struggling rail operator TrainOSE to Italy’s state railway company as the leftwing government comes under pressure from bailout lenders to accelerate the country’s flagging privatisation programme.
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Southern to offer full train service next week: Southern, the rail commuter service, aims to offer its fullest service for more than a month on Tuesday after the suspension of drivers’ strikes and new working arrangements for conductors eased pressure on the operator.
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Lex:
Manchester United: a different league: Why are Manchester United so successful? It’s not to do with their results on the football pitch which, like their share price, have been pretty woeful ever since manager Sir Alex Ferguson left in 2013. Thank goodness, then, for fluffy pillows and car lubricant. A series of niche branding deals have helped boost sales to a record £515.3 million, pushing European rivals Real Madrid — last year’s leaders — into third place in the global commercial league table. The trouble is that if trophy success continues to elude United then sponsorship, and investors, will suffer.
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Pearson: school of hard knocks: Many U.S. students now rent course materials. The result? Another profits warning from Pearson. The U.K.-based group sells what many desire: education. Its problems turning that into steady earnings mean investors grade it F, for “fail”. The shares plunged 29% on Wednesday, to 573p. That took the drop to 53% since John Fallon became Chief Executive in 2012.
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Goldman Sachs: sleek geek: Goldman Sachs’ famed risk management culture is underpinned by “math and software”, according to incoming Chief financial officer Marty Chavez. Technology has also boosted cost efficiency at a company where a third of employees might now self-identify as geeks. As “animal spirits” revive in U.S. finance, Goldman will need to balance terabytes with newfound swagger.
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Lombard:
Premier Foods feels pressure from rising costs: Criticising the disparity between “apocalyptic predictions” for the U.K. economy and the “reality” since the EU referendum, Mr. Martin recalled that Bank of England Chief economist Andy Haldane described those predictions as a “Michael Fish moment for economists”. However, he noted angrily that Mr. Fish’s erroneous storm prediction was “a misinterpretation of data on one evening, under great time pressure” whereas most economists’ forecasts for the Eurozone had been wrong “for about 30 years”. Even as Mr. Martin was ignoring these areas of low pressure, another owner of great British brands, Premier Foods, was issuing a profit warning.
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EE: upwardly mobile: On Wednesday, telecoms regulator Ofcom fined EE — the mobile operator bought by BT — £2.7 million for billing irregularities, including an insistence that European callers were actually in the U.S. According to price comparison site uSwitch, some 32,000 customers who phoned EE’s customer services line from the EU were charged as if they had dialled from across the Atlantic. At a rate of £1.20 a minute, instead of 19p, they paid £245,700 over the odds.
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The Daily Telegraph
Fallon under pressure as Pearson shareholders back board to oust him in wake of fifth profit warning: Pearson Chief Executive John Fallon is under mounting pressure as investors in the education giant backed its board to oust him if necessary in the wake of a profit warning that sent the shares plunging to their lowest level in 14 years.
Yellen signals further rate rises as U.S. economy storms ahead: Janet Yellen, the chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, said the economy had come a long way in recovering from the 2008 financial crisis and that she and her colleagues expect the central bank to raise interest rates “a few times a year” until 2019.
Moody’s warns on House of Fraser outlook: House of Fraser’s recent upbeat festive trading hasn’t convinced credit rating agency Moody’s which lowered its outlook for the department store chain.
Premier Foods’ shares tank on profit warning and rising costs: Premier Foods’ shares have crashed by 16% after the Mr. Kipling maker warned that its profits would be 10% lower than it had hoped.
Deutsche Bank takes the axe to staff bonuses: Deutsche Bank announced massive cuts to its annual bonus scheme on Wednesday, as it looks to absorb the impact of a record $7.2 billion (£5.6 billion) fine in the U.S.
Ladbrokes Coral profits on track despite wrath of ‘sporting gods’: Ladbrokes Coral is on track to hit its profit targets for 2016, despite a series of sporting upsets in late December. The newly formed gambling giant said its profits for the year would be in the range expected by the market at between £275 million – £285 million, with £179 million of that coming from Ladbrokes and £101 million from Gala Coral.
The Questor Column:
It’s not cheap, but this unique Aim stock boasts great growth potential: Despite high valuations, there are companies whose growth prospects are strong enough to warrant a look, particularly if investors are prepared to hold stocks for several years. Pet treatments are, as in the world of human medication, becoming more comprehensive, complex and costly. Animal owners will pay through the nose for vaccinations, surgery, accessories and even cemetery spaces, while spending is sustained at the expense of discretionary items during downturns or periods of rising inflation. Mark Slater, of the eponymous investment company, is one major fan. CVS now accounts for 4.4% of Mr. Slater’s £400 million MFM Slater Growth portfolio and is the third-largest holding. This has been one of the top-returning British-invested funds in recent years, doubling investors’ cash over the past five. CVS is expanding rapidly – it acquired 68 surgeries in 2016 alone – and just last month secured £30 million of new spending to fuel expansion both here and in the Netherlands, a market it entered last year. While over 90% of its revenue comes from its 380 practices, income from its portfolio of crematoria doubled over its last financial year and its laboratory division pulled in 13% more cash than in 2015. In September last year, Questor had CVS as a hold at its price of 945p. It is higher now, closing up 10p at £10.82, but is a speculative buy for investors prepared to wait. Questor says ‘Speculative Buy’.
The Guardian
Middle classes in crisis, IMF’s Christine Lagarde tells Davos 2017: The head of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, has called for urgent action to tackle a “middle-class crisis” hitting working people as she warned that inequality, distrust and a lack of hope were fuelling growing populism.
Top Trump adviser says post-Brexit trade deal feasible within a year: Teresa May’s hopes of striking a trade deal with the incoming Donald Trump administration have been given a boost after a leading adviser to the President-elect said a new accord could be achieved within six to 12 months.
Royal Albert Hall called a ‘national disgrace’ over members’ ticket resales: Royal Albert Hall members have exchanged detailed advice on how to sell their seats on ticket touting sites, prompting the venue’s former President to label its stewardship a “national disgrace”.
Pearson profit warnings wipe almost £2 billion off its value: Almost £2 billion was wiped from the stock market value of Pearson after the beleaguered FTSE 100 company issued profit warnings for the next two years and said it would cut its payout to shareholders.
Daily Mail
Fitness tech firm Fitbug forced to suspend trading as share price quadruples after it announces major new customer: Fitness tech firm Fitbug was forced to suspend trading after its share price quadrupled when it announced it had won a major new customer. Shares started the day at 0.17p and climbed as high as 1.07p in the afternoon before easing off.
World’s largest oil company could join London stock market in major boost to Britain following Brexit vote: The world’s largest oil company could join the London stock market in a major boost to Britain following the Brexit vote. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, state-owned Saudi Arabian Oil Company, commonly known as Saudi Aramco, told how it was planning the biggest-ever stock market listing that could value the firm at £1.9 trillion.
New Boss of troubled outsourcing firm Mitie cleans decks as firm issues its third profit warning since September: The new Boss of troubled outsourcing firm Mitie has cleaned the decks as the firm issued its third profit warning since September. Phil Bentley, former Boss of British Gas, has sacked a number of staff in the firm’s cleaning division, and let the finance Boss go as he seeks to rescue Mitie.
Daily Express
Tim Martin blasts establishment’s ‘semi-religious’ belief in EU and calls for free-trade: Establishment experts and politicians have a “semi-religious” belief in the European Union (EU) that will lead them to repeat judgement errors over the economy and trade amid Brexit negotiations, Wetherspoon Boss Tim Martin has warned.
Theresa May to meet with Wall Street bankers in Davos and outline hard Brexit vision: Theresa May is to meet Bosses from some of Wall Street’s biggest firms after banks threatened to move jobs out of the U.K. amid a so-called hard Brexit.
Brexit boom: Wages UP and unemployment falls proving doom-mongers wrong again: Wages were rising in the months after the Brexit vote while unemployment fell, as Britain’s strong economy continued to prove doom-monger Remain warnings wrong, official data revealed.
Savers warned about risks of absolute return funds: Older investors and pensioners may be putting their savings in jeopardy by investing in supposedly low-risk absolute return funds. Millions of hard-pressed savers have been advised to invest in targeted absolute return funds, which aim to deliver a higher return than cash, but with less volatility than the stock market.
The Scottish Herald
‘Co-op is back’ after revealing surge in sales during Christmas period: The Co-operative Group declared it was “back” after cheering surging sales in its Christmas quarter, boosted by a push to sign up more customer members.
UBS wealth managers eye growth in Scotland: The head of UBS’s wealth management business in Scotland, Debjani Raffan, says it sees plenty of room to grow in the country and shrugged off concerns about the possibility of another independence referendum.
Pound slips back after surge following Theresa May’s Brexit speech: The pound lost its footing on Wednesday as the dollar strengthened and investors backtracked on initial enthusiasm around Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit speech.
HSBC set to shift 1,000 jobs to Paris over U.K. departure from single market: The Boss of HSBC has said the bank is on course to move 1,000 jobs from its London business to Paris after Prime Minister Theresa May confirmed Britain will scrap its single market membership after Brexit.
The Scotsman
Farming industry anger after PM signals single market exit: If a quick and comprehensive trade deal giving U.K. farmers continued access to their European markets cannot be achieved, transition arrangements that avoid the Brexit “cliff edge” will be vital to allow the industry time to adapt, farming leaders have argued.
Lettings market tipped for return to growth this year: Residential rentals are forecast to rise this year in the wake of an “uncharacteristic” dip at the end of 2016.
Graham’s targets fitness fans with protein-packed snack: Graham’s The Family Dairy has secured supermarket shelf space for its latest product, a protein-packed snack aimed at health-conscious consumers.
Offshore firms ‘lock out’ local traders from Google ads: The Boss of an Edinburgh-based digital marketing agency has hit out at overseas companies that he claims are “distorting” online competition for local tradespeople.
Scots retailers boosted by 4.3% rise in festive sales: Retail sales north of the Border increased 4.3% in December, providing a boost for businesses over the vital Christmas period.
City A.M.
JP Morgan Chase to fork out $55 million to settle mortgage discrimination claims: JP Morgan Chase has agreed to pay $55 million (£44.9 million) to put to bed claims that it charged borrowers from minority backgrounds more for mortgages.
These peer-to-peer platforms lent nearly £3 billion in 2016: Nearly £3 billion was lent across the U.K.’s biggest peer-to-peer platforms last year, new figures out showed.
Theresa May is expected to launch a consultation on her flagship industrial strategy next week: Prime Minister Theresa May is expected to launch a consultation on her much-heralded industrial strategy early next week.
Goldman Sachs predicts healthcare M&A flurry, helped by Donald Trump: Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs is predicting a mergers and acquisitions (M&A) flurry in the healthcare sector this year, helped by Donald Trump.
U.K. wages grow at fastest rate since September 2015, while unemployment rate retains 11-year low: Wages grew faster than expected at the end of 2016, while unemployment stayed steady at 4.8%, as the U.K. labour market showed little sign of any short-term Brexit effect.
Now it’s Credit Suisse’s turn to sign off on its Department of Justice fine for $5.3 billion: Credit Suisse has finalised its agreement to settle for $5.3 billion (£4.3 billion) with the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) for mis-selling mortgage-backed securities in the lead-up to the financial crisis.
