Newspapers today: The Times, Independent, FT, Telegraph, Guardian, Mail, Express, Herald 230216

The Times

Clarks takes first steps to store closures: Clarks Shoes has appointed a property consultancy to carry out a nationwide review of its U.K. store portfolio in a move that could lead to closures.

Hammond set for £12 billion budget windfall: Strong tax receipts are set to hand the Chancellor a £12 billion windfall for next month’s budget as the public finances show little sign of collapse since the vote for Brexit.

Japanese manufacturers say business is booming: Japanese manufacturing is growing at its fastest rate in almost three years. The Nikkei’s flash manufacturing purchasing managers’ index for February, published a week before final PMI data is released, has come in with a reading of 53.5, up from 52.7 in January.

U.S. deal puts law firm in global elite: Norton Rose Fulbright is to merge with a Wall Street practice to create a £1.6 billion law firm that will be catapulted into the global top ten in terms of revenue.

British Gas lines up £100 million reward: British Gas has hit back at its critics with plans for a £100 million rewards programme for its most loyal customers, that will include free energy days, discounted insurance and entertainment packages.

Investors in a rush to lose money (slowly): Institutional investors flocked to lend £4.5 billion to the government for 50 years in the certain knowledge that they would not get all of their money back in real terms.

Ireland toasts its champagne moment: The price of a bottle of champagne and fees paid to stockbrokers are to be included in the basket of items used to calculate the rate of inflation in Ireland — proof, should it be needed, that the country’s near decade-long economic crisis is over.

Trust Bosses refuse to put their money where their mouth is: A multi-millionaire shipping heir and a former Bank of England heavyweight are among a minority of investment trust leaders who have failed to invest a penny in the companies they chair.

The Independent

Hundreds of hotels not telling guests about poor food hygiene ratings: More than 600 U.K. hotels, including a five-star one, have poor food hygiene and are in need of “urgent improvement”.

U.K. faces ‘cliff edge of uncertainty’ after Brexit without interim deal: The U.K. is nearing a ”cliff edge of uncertainty” that will lead to job losses and lower investment unless the Government ensures a transitional arrangement after leaving the EU, businesses have warned.

Public finances boosted in January by corporation tax receipts: The U.K.’s public finances improved in January on the back of decent growth in corporation tax revenues and revisions in their accounting treatment, leaving the Chancellor, Philip Hammond, on course to easily hit his latest 2016-17 fiscal targets.

London Mayfair’s cheapest house is on sale for just £500,000: ​Mayfair is well-known as one of the glitziest, most luxurious and crucially most expensive areas of London to buy property.

TransferWise launches international money transfers via Facebook chat: Money transfer company TransferWise has launched a new service that allows users to send money internationally through Facebook’s chat application, as competition in the digital payments landscape intensifies.

Financial Times

Russia’s Rosneft strikes Libyan oil deal: Libya’s state oil company has signed a preliminary agreement with Russia’s Rosneft for investment into its energy sector as the struggling north African nation seeks $20 billion to boost crude output.

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Singapore carbon tax set to squeeze oil groups: A carbon tax plan revealed this week by Singapore will cover refineries in the city-state, officials confirmed on Tuesday, adding to pressure on international oil groups in one of Asia’s biggest refining centres.

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Fannie and Freddie shares plunge after court blow for investors: Shares in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac tumbled by more than a third on Tuesday after a court struck a blow to a group of investors in their quest to overturn the government’s decision to take all of the U.S. mortgage giants’ profits.

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HSBC profits tumble on writedowns and one-off costs: Investors wiped almost £10 billion off the value of HSBC on Tuesday after the bank reported an 82% drop in annual net profits, blaming one-off items including multibillion-dollar writedowns in Switzerland and Brazil.

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AIG sells Stowe Mountain ski resort: The biggest U.S. insurer by market value said on Tuesday it had struck a deal to sell Stowe Mountain Resort’s operations in New England to Vail Resorts, a listed specialist in managing such assets.

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Telefónica shaves debt with Telxius masts stake sale to KKR: Telefónica has sold 40% of its Telxius towers and cables business to private equity group KKR in a €1.275 billion deal that will make a small dent in the Spanish group’s debt mountain.

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Bank of England defends implementation of Solvency II rules: The Bank of England has dealt a blow to U.K. insurers hoping for a quick fix to what they see as the most onerous aspects of EU capital requirements.

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Mediclinic warns on revenues at Middle East arm: Private hospitals provider Mediclinic International has warned of a “steeper” fall in revenues at the Middle East group it acquired last year, as cuts to state subsidies and persistent staffing problems take their toll.

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Big pharma bets billions on ‘silent’ liver disease: In recent months, large drugmakers including Allergan, Gilead and Novartis have collectively spent billions of dollars acquiring or licensing medicines designed to treat a liver disease that few people have heard of — non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, or Nash.

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Chinese regulators hold up Dalian Wanda’s Dick Clark deal: Dalian Wanda, the Chinese conglomerate led by one of Asia’s richest men, is struggling to complete its $1 billion buyout of Dick Clark Productions as a regulatory clampdown in China shows signs of hitting even some of the country’s best-connected groups.

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Nicolas Sarkozy joins AccorHotels to head international strategy: Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who suffered a humiliating defeat in his party primaries last year, has started a new career in the travel business as a Director of hotel group Accor.

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Tiffany agrees board shake-up after activist pressure: Tiffany has reached a deal with activist investor Jana Partners to appoint three independent Directors to its board and oversee the search for a new Chief Executive after a difficult time which has seen the luxury jeweller report sales declines in seven of the past eight quarters.

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Burger King’s owner to buy Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen for $1.8 billion: Burger King Owner Restaurant Brands will add Southern fried chicken to its line-up with a deal announced on Tuesday to buy Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen for $1.8 billion in cash.

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Walmart beats expectations with strong online sales: Walmart’s ecommerce business helped the retailer beat expectations for U.S. sales in the fourth quarter but stiff price competition in the holiday season held back its profitability.

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Tokyo casino the ‘holy grail’ for Sheldon Adelson: Tokyo is the “holy grail” said casino magnate Sheldon Adelson as he vowed to invest up to $10 billion if he wins the race to build a resort in Japan’s capital.

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Investors quiz Snap Executives as roadshow rolls into New York: Evan Spiegel and other top Executives at Snap, the owner of messaging app Snapchat, on Tuesday pitched the company to hundreds of investors in New York and faced questions about user growth, costs and the development of the platform.

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India’s Reliance to start charging for data services: Reliance Industries will finally start charging for its telephone data services from April, the company has announced — though its low prices look set to extend the bitter price war engulfing India’s fiercely competitive telecoms sector.

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Lex:

Walmart: heavyweight boxer: Fourth-quarter results published on Tuesday showed that online sales had increased 29%, after last year’s acquisition of jet.com, which does bulk purchases. For its part, Amazon has introduced online grocery shopping and is also experimenting with physical stores and building up its logistics assets.

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Mediclinic: hospital pass: Since Mediclinic completed its merger with Al Noor in February 2016, securing itself a U.K. listing and FTSE 100 berth in the process, its shares have fallen. Those of NMC Health, another Mideast operator that sought a combination with Al Noor, have doubled. On Tuesday, South Africa-based Mediclinic said revenues for the year to March 2017 at its Middle East operations would be lower than previously forecast.

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HSBC: top-line teaser: HSBC’s pitch to investors is that it offers “a strong franchise in a challenging environment”. For most, that translates to “steady earnings and rising payouts”. But the bank’s full-year results on Tuesday offered a reminder that dividends can only rise sustainably if earnings do likewise.

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Lombard:

Cutifani’s quick balance-sheet fix at Anglo American: Fixing the world’s fifth-largest miner, after the worst commodity price falls in a decade, was a doubtless a trickier, costlier and more time-consuming job. But the speed with which Anglo American’s Chief Executive has declared “job done” is not dissimilar to that of an initially pessimistic but surprisingly efficient plumber.

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Presidential suite(ner): Holiday Inn owner InterContinental Hotels could be helped by a rival: Donald Trump. Not because the U.S. President is planning to divest his hotel holdings. No, simply because analysts think his spending policies could boost U.S. bookings. Intercontinental needs a lift. It may be paying a $400 million dividend, but sales are slowing. Morgan Stanley says U.S. room revenue growth will reverse in 2018.

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The Daily Telegraph

Businesses told to take the lead in post-Brexit trade: Britain’s businesses should start planning their post-Brexit trading operations now, instead of waiting for the government to negotiate with Brussels and to strike trade deals, according to the Institute of Directors.

Peugeot may get sweeteners from government to keep Vauxhall plants in the U.K.: Peugeot could be offered incentives including cut-price rates and training for staff to maintain the Vauxhall plants in Britain if it buys GM’s loss-making European arm.

Tough job to replace hospitality industry’s critical EU workers: Replacing critical EU workers within the hospitality industry if their rights are not protected post-Brexit would be a major struggle, industry experts have warned.

Government ‘closely’ monitoring LSE’s merger with Deutsche Boerse: The Government has insisted it is “closely” following the London Stock Exchange’s £21 billion merger with German rival Deutsche Boerse but did not bow to calls to use its powers to halt the controversial tie-up.

Anglo American swings back to profit and retreats on disposal plan: Anglo American Boss Mark Cutifani has defended a change in the company’s strategy, after rowing back from a dramatic plan outlined at the end of 2015 to shrink the business by almost two-thirds in order to survive a downturn in commodity prices.

Intercontinental Hotels to pay first special dividend unaided by major disposal: International Hotels Group is to pay its first special dividend unaided by a major disposal as the company continues to prove to investors just how cash generative it can be.

U.S. Treasury Secretary calls on IMF to monitor currencies: U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin called on the International Monetary Fund to provide a “candid analysis” of exchange-rate policies in member countries.

The Questor Column:

Low valuation, decent yield and the chance of a bid make Biffa a buy: Waste management may not sound exciting but where there’s muck there’s brass and Biffa comes with a relatively attractive valuation and a decent yield in a sector where merger and acquisition activity is running hot. Based on consensus analysts’ forecasts, Biffa trades on 12 times earnings for the year to March 2017 and 10.4 times for March 2018. The company is expected to offer a final dividend of around 3.1p for 2017 and then pay an interim and final dividend in the 2018 fiscal year worth 6.8p in aggregate, enough for a 3.7% yield covered 2.5 times by earnings. Biffa has £200 million of debt and another £100 million of leasing obligations so the balance sheet needs some work, although cashflow should be healthy and sufficient to pay down the liabilities. There is also a potential stock “overhang” as the former private equity owners still hold 43% of the shares, although this could make it easier for any would-be bidder to get involved. Questor says ‘Buy’.

Update: Connect: Shares in FTSE Small Cap stock Connect have yet to respond to the disposal of its education and care operation to RM for £56.5 million in cash (as well as the unit’s £7.9 million defined benefit pension scheme), but the transaction is the latest step in the company’s strategic repositioning. Spun out of WH Smith, and formerly known as Smiths News, Connect’s origins lie in newspaper and book distribution. But select acquisitions are taking the company into new markets such as freight and parcel delivery, where Asos and Amazon are customers. Further purchases are possible as Connect takes its skills into new markets where there are growth opportunities, especially as the recent disposal provides it with further cash. Alternatively, the firm can simply further pay down debt and keep paying dividends – analysts’ consensus forecast payment of 9.82p for the year to August 2017 equates to a 7% yield that is twice covered by earnings. Patience is a virtue and investors are being paid to wait, in the form of the healthy dividend yield, as Connect carefully repositions itself. Questor says ‘Buy’.

The Guardian

City watchdog investigating HSBC over potential financial crime, bank reveals: The City regulator is investigating HSBC over potential breaches of money laundering rules after concerns raised last year by the anti-crime monitor installed in Britain’s biggest bank.

Losing banking jobs to EU ‘threatens financial stability across Europe’: The City of London has warned that the loss of banking jobs to EU countries due to Brexit could threaten British and European financial stability.

EE balloons and drones to help fix mobile blackspots: Mobile network operator EE says the fleet will enable remote communities to maintain voice and data services when coverage is lost due to natural disasters such as flooding. EE expects to launch its first “helikite” – a mobile broadcast site tethered to helium balloons – later this year. EE is also preparing to deliver coverage via drones, although that project is not ready to launch.

Farmers deliver stark warning over access to EU seasonal workers: Farmers have warned that food will “rot in the fields” and Britain will be unable to produce what it eats if the government cannot guarantee that growers will continue to have access to tens of thousands of EU workers after Brexit.

ITV to shut London studio with 40-year history of top programming: The London television studio where some of the U.K.’s most popular shows of the past 40 years have been filmed is to be closed by ITV.

Daily Mail

Construction group Galliford Try hikes dividend 23% as it targets £220 million profit: Construction group Galliford Try gave investors reason to cheer as it hiked its dividend 23% to 32p a share.

Yahoo takes a £281 million hit on its sale to U.S. telecoms giant Verizon after cyber-attacks: Yahoo is taking a £281million hit on its sale to U.S. telecoms giant Verizon after cyber-attacks. Verizon had agreed to buy the internet firm for £3.6billion in July.

U.S. shares hit new record after lift from giant stores: The U.S. stock market surged to a record high as strong retail results pushed it higher.

Miners back in the black as metals rally lifts profit after one of the industry’s most severe slumps: Cost-cutting and a boost to commodities prices are helping miners climb out of one of the industry’s most severe slumps. BHP Billiton and Anglo American both announced a return to profit, less than two weeks after Rio Tinto doubled its dividend after doing the same.

Ministers refuse to interfere on LSE deal despite growing pressure to investigate: The Government has refused to intervene in a £21billion German takeover of the London Stock Exchange despite growing pressure to investigate the deal.

Daily Express

Marine Le Pen winning French election would mark the end of the euro, say experts: The euro is finished if Marine Le Pen wins the French presidency, experts have warned, as market fears rise over the upcoming election.

NatWest puts 1,000 tech experts in branches to boost customers’ digital confidence: NatWest branches are to get an army of tech experts as the bank invests £500,000 to train more than 1,000 specialists to help customers.

‘No-one thanks us for Brexit actions’ Mark Carney insists he saved the U.K. economy: The Governor of the Bank of England complained he has received no thanks for helping Britain avoid a financial downturn following the Brexit vote- even though he admitted forecasting errors.

106,000 job-jugglers missing out on auto-enrolment scheme: More than 100,000 workers are not being automatically placed into a pension because they are juggling multiple jobs – and women are particularly likely to be missing out – according to Citizens Advice.

Bank of England ‘may not be able to forecast the next financial crisis’: The Bank of England is unlikely to be able to predict the next financial crisis, despite having learned from its “Michael Fish” moment, key staff have told MPs.

The Scottish Herald

Going global is of benefit to the profession in Scotland: Consolidation in the legal sector has led to a number of long-standing brands disappearing in recent years.

Eland sees shares up after crude exports resume: Eland Oil & Gas saw shares jump more than 5% after telling investors that it has pumped 150,000 barrels of oil from the Opuama-3 well in Nigeria in just three weeks.

Ardgowan reveals double signing as £12 million whisky venture progresses: Two leading figures from Scotland’s whisky industry have joined the Ardgowan Distillery Company, based in Inverkip.

Scottish organic farming booming: Organic food production in Scotland is on a high, outperforming the rest of the U.K. in the last 12 months with an 11.7% increase in retail sales.

ACA Press Cutters changes hands in: ACA Press Cutters, owned by the McCready family, has been sold in a £6.5 million deal. The acquisition was led by former ACA employee Joseph Keenan, who is backed by Glasgow-based entrepreneur Dara Changizi and six former senior managers at the business. Mr. Keenan and Mr. Changizi have formed a new board.

Potential Bowleven Directors comment: The individuals proposed by rebel investors in Bowleven for election to the company’s board have said they will act in the interests of the oil and gas firm and its shareholders.

City Building names 136 firms in framework supplier deal: More than 130 Glasgow businesses have been given the chance to win valuable contracts with City Building, after being awarded framework sub-contractor status in a new three-year deal.

The Scotsman

Wood Group earnings hit by tough oil and gas market: Oil and gas services giant Wood Group is bracing itself for another tough year in the North Sea after reporting a slide in annual profits.

Asda Boss ‘encouraged’ despite fresh slump in sales: Asda has posted another slump in quarterly sales, but the supermarket is showing signs that turnaround efforts under Chief Executive Sean Clarke are beginning to bear fruit.

Innis & Gunn looks east with latest distribution deal: Craft brewer Innis & Gunn has signed a deal to distribute its beer to bars and retailers across mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.

Confidence falls among small firms despite lending jump: There has been a jump in the overall volume of lending to small businesses in the U.K., but many firms are “holding back on their ambition” with a drop in confidence levels.

Factories hit a two-year high but prices fuel concerns: Order books at U.K. factories have a hit a two-year high, but plans by many manufacturers to hoist prices to compensate for the weak pound threatens future growth, a survey has found.

City A.M.

U.K. boosts position as largest investor in India as the government looks to step up trade deals outside Europe: The U.K. boosted its position as the largest foreign investor in India among the G20 group of the richest nations, according to a new report, as the government looks to boost trade ties with the largest Commonwealth nation.

Brexit vacuum must be avoided, as new report warns of a second cliff edge scenario: Businesses could find themselves launched off of a cliff edge and into a Brexit vacuum if the government does not line up its transition period with care.

Lib Dem leader Farron to demand a fresh industrial revolution led by a new Green Investment Bank: Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron is to call for the government to create a new Green Investment Bank in a speech demanding a new industrial revolution.

Euronext launches new listing for family-owned firms: Euronext has launched a new listing dedicated to family businesses, covering 90 companies across France, Belgium, Portugal and the Netherlands.

Private equity houses battle it out for £500 million U.K. IT services firm Claranet: Private equity houses Blackstone and Inflexion are battling it out for a stake in a £500 million -valued British IT services company, City A.M. has learned.

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