The Times
Mutual Boss takes home a friendly £11 million: An LV= insurance Executive has scooped one of the biggest pay packets ever awarded to a Director of a mutual, receiving £10.7 million last year.
London Stock Exchange hits high as £20 billion merger nears: Shares in the London Stock Exchange hit a record high as expectations grew that it will reveal the details of an agreed merger with Deutsche Börse within days, valuing the combined group at more than £20 billion.
Co-op Chief to quit lender at end of contract: The Boss of the Co-operative Bank who was drafted in three years ago to lead a rescue of the struggling lender is to leave.
Banks pay junior staff bigger bonuses as they fight for talent: Junior staff in London investment banks are scooping a much bigger percentage of the bonus pool at the expense of their Bosses, according to an analysis of pay in the securities industry.
Oil falls as Iran rules out production freeze: The price of oil slipped back below $40 after Iran scotched hopes of an imminent deal to freeze production, rekindling concern about a supply glut.
Anglo American Chief’s pay slips as miner slumps: The Boss of Anglo American scooped a slightly smaller pay package last year as the company slumped to a $5.4 billion loss.
Sport Direct fights to scrap sackings case: Sport Direct has argued in court that a criminal charge linked to the collapse of its U.S.C fashion chain should be thrown out.
Tod’s walks tall despite China fall: Tod’s, the Italian fashion group that makes shoes and other high-end leather goods, reported a 5% rise in annual profit after increased sales in its European and American markets offset weakness in China.
Eurozone factories boost their output: Factory output in the Eurozone grew in January at its fastest rate in more than six years, providing evidence that the single currency bloc is performing better than thought.
The Independent
Breakthrough for British firm in medicinal use of marijuana for children with epilepsy: A British company that has been working for 18 years to find medicinal uses for marijuana has had a major breakthrough in the treatment of childhood epilepsy.
Ex-Boss of Anglo Irish Bank David Drumm bailed in fraud case: David Drumm, the former Boss of Anglo Irish Bank, was granted bail by a court in Dublin after he was extradited from the United States to face fraud charges.
Tanzanians slam SFO’s plea bargain on Africa corruption case: The Serious Fraud Office has been asked to reopen its controversial “plea deal” investigation into London-based ICBC Standard Bank after claims the SFO were misled by the bank.
Intercontinental Hotels leaps as Chinese bid for Sheraton giant: Intercontinental (IHG), the U.K. hotel giant, emerged as a possible bid target after a Chinese buyer gatecrashed a U.S. hotel megadeal, prompting speculation the U.K. group will be approached by the jilted suitor.
Financial Times
Brussels warns EU banks against Russian bond deal: Brussels is urging European banks to steer clear of Russia’s first sovereign bond issue since the imposition of western sanctions over Ukraine, creating fresh doubts about the viability of the offering.
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GW Pharma doubles in value after cannabis drug success: GW Pharmaceuticals, the U.K.-based company that makes medicines from marijuana, more than doubled in market value on Monday after revealing that its experimental epilepsy treatment had succeed in cutting the number of seizures among children.
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Anglo American Chief Mark Cutifani’s bonus falls 40%: Mark Cutifani’s annual bonus as Chief Executive of Anglo American fell almost 40% last year as the mining group struggled to cope with the commodities downturn.
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Price of branded prescription drugs in the U.S. doubles in 5 years: The average price of branded prescription drugs in the U.S. has doubled in the past five years, according to the country’s largest pharmacy group, a finding that threatens to fuel the political backlash against high prices.
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Safran aims to beef up aerospace division: The Chief Executive of Safran is seeking to focus the French company on its aerospace and defence divisions, as he looks to slim down its security unit through disposals.
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Lex:
Starwood: big Anbang theory: About to buy a package of fancy hotels? Best to find someone to run them. Over the weekend, news broke that Chinese insurance group-turned-property-titan Anbang was to acquire Strategic Hotels & Resorts, the Owner of 16 luxury properties, for $6.5 billion.
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Ageas/Fortis: one step forward: On Monday, Belgium’s largest insurer announced a €1.2 billion settlement of claims relating to alleged miscommunications over its solvency and subprime mortgage exposure in the run-up to the financial crisis in 2008. Analysts had expected anywhere between €500 million and €1 billion.
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Egypt: valued devaluation: Egypt’s political revolution is history. The country now needs an economic one. The collapse of tourist arrivals — down by half year on year in January — has hurt. Tourist spending is a key source of foreign exchange.
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Lombard:
FCA and Treasury skirt the blame while opining on advice gap: The Financial Conduct Authority and the Treasury have just expanded a genre graced by Tony Blair’s comments on the Middle East crisis with a report on financial advice.
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Knitted brows: The norns of pagan mythology wove a tapestry that determined human fates. New-wave knitter Margrethe Vestager plays the same pivotal role for telecoms in her job as EU competition commissioner. She must decide whether to snip free a fragment of the dominant U.K. mobile operator stitched together by Hutchison Whampoa.
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The Daily Telegraph
Business sends ‘resounding’ message that U.K. should stay in EU, says CBI: Britain’s biggest business group has called for the U.K. to remain in the European Union after its members sent a “resounding” message that staying in was better for jobs and growth.
Global recession risk rises to 30% this year, warn Morgan Stanley: There is a near one in three chance the world economy will slip back in to recession this year as low oil prices and extraordinary monetary stimulus have a dwindling impact on global growth, Morgan Stanley has warned.
U.K. must ‘lean on’ banks or risk $250 billion in lost North Sea oil, warns Sir Ian Wood: Government must lean on banks to keep funding troubled North Sea oil explorers or risk a $250 billion hit to the U.K. economy, Sir Ian Wood has warned.
Small energy firms top the list of most complained about suppliers: The U.K.’s most complained about energy firms are two of the new breed of smaller, “challenger” brands hoping to take market share from the big six energy giants, according to the latest customer data.
BHS landlord Hermes opposes retailer’s rent cut demands: Ailing retailer BHS has been dealt a blow after the giant investment firm that helps to run the BT pension scheme revealed it opposed the chain’s plan to slash rents in a bid to stave-off administration.
Steel industry suffers new blow with more job cuts in Sheffield: The steel crisis is continuing to claim jobs in U.K. industry, with a round of redundancies at Sheffield-based Outokumpu and a warning from its parent company that the U.K. operations could be closed down.
The Questor Column:
JLIF inflation linked dividend income attractions remain: John Laing Infrastructure Fund (JLIF) recently expanded overseas by taking a stake in the Barcelona metro. With the value of the portfolio now above £900 million, the fund remains a decent income option. JLIF paid £85 million for a 40% stake in a project to operate and maintain escalators and electronic doors at stations on the Barcelona metro. The deal was funded by raising gross proceeds of £93 million through the placing of 81 million shares at 114½p each, a 10% discount to the market price. JLIF now owns a portfolio of 58 investments, such as hospitals, social housing and schools, from which it earns a steady income by operating and maintaining the buildings. The value of those investments increased by 8% to £867.8 million during the year to the end of December, and the Barcelona purchase lifts this to about £950 million. That means the shares have a net asset value of roughly 108p per share, and are currently trading at about a 10% premium to their underlying value. JLIF can afford to pay steady inflation-linked dividends to investors because its contracts are multi-year and state-backed. In the case of the Barcelona metro contract, it is backed by the state of Catalonia. The company, spun out of construction group John Laing in 2010, has a six-year dividend track record and is expected to pay 7p in dividends in the year ahead, offering a prospective yield of 5.8%. Questor thinks that when compared with rock-bottom rates on a savings account, the steadily increasing dividend income from these assets will remain attractive. Hold. John Laing Infrastructure Fund at 119½p -0.3p. Questor says “Hold”.
UDG Healthcare war chest can accelerate growth: UDG Healthcare cleared a significant regulatory hurdle last week in the planned disposal of its distribution businesses. The Dublin-based healthcare group agreed to sell two businesses – United Drug Supply Chain and MASTA – for €407.5 million (£316 million) to the U.S. giant McKesson last September. UDG has now received competition clearance from the European Commission for the deals and expects them to complete on April 1. UDG’s best prospects are coming from its Sharp drug packaging business. Pills are made by another company, but Sharp puts them in blister packs ready for sale. Management expects revenue and profits at Sharp to increase by about 10% during the next two years. There will be a big drop in revenue at UDG in the year ahead, from €2.3 billion to about €1.1 billion, when the United Drug Supply Chain and MASTA deals complete. However, pretax profits should only fall from €120 million to €105 million, which in turn will see the profit margin increase from about 5% to almost 10%. Once the sale proceeds are received, UDG will pay down its debts and should have a war chest to fund expansion of both the Ashfield and Sharp businesses. UDG’s shares have fallen 6% this year and are not cheap, trading on 24 times forecast earnings. That said, there is a clear path for the company to grow during the coming two years and management has pledged to increase the dividend this year and next. We tipped UDG as a buy (349.6p, November 2014), and it has provided gains of 60% – or £2.10 per share – since then. We remain happy to hold for the long term. UDG Healthcare at 564p +13p. Questor says “Hold”.
The Guardian
VW investors file multi-billion dollar suit in Germany: Almost 300 institutional investors in Volkswagen have filed a multi-billion dollar suit against the carmaker for what they claim were breaches of its stock market duty in the emissions cheating scandal.
Mortgage lending shakeup could push up cost of borrowing: Mortgages for homeowners and buy-to-let landlords could become more expensive under new rules being imposed by international regulators, an industry trade body has warned.
Budget 2016: George Osborne fuels speculation of nasty shocks: Weaker growth and a deterioration in the public finances will force the Treasury to make an additional £4 billion of savings by the end of the current parliament, George Osborne has said.
Fever-Tree buoyed by deals with M&S and British Airways: Fever-Tree, the supplier of premium tonic water and other carbonated mixers, is toasting a surge in profits after it won new business with Marks & Spencer and British Airways.
Fastjet says CEO to step down this week: African budget airline Fastjet has said its Chief Executive is to step down this week, less than a month after its second-largest shareholder Stelios Haji-Ioannou called for his dismissal.
Daily Mail
Lloyds is vulnerable to a house price crash and not worth investing in, says star Fund Manager Neil Woodford: Lloyds is vulnerable to a housing crash and is not worth investing in, one of the U.K.’s most influential fund Managers claimed.
Anger at ‘superfluous’ £60 million pay deal for WPP Boss Sir Martin Sorrell: Sir Martin Sorrell came under fire as his £60 million bonus from WPP was deemed ‘superfluous’.
Three launches £5 a month ‘granny tariff’ in bid to get regulators to approve merger deal with O2: Mobile operator Three is set to launch a special tariff for pensioners in a bid to get regulators to approve a merger deal with O2.
AstraZeneca Chief Pascal Soriot faces £3.5 million pay revolt following profit warning: AstraZeneca is facing a revolt over Executive pay in the wake of a profit warning.
EDF demands State help for £18 billion Hinkley Point nuclear plant: EDF’s Boss has warned that Hinkley Point nuclear plant will not go ahead without fresh financial support from the French government.
Motor insurance set to rise 10% as drivers face a ‘triple whammy’ of higher fuel duty, soaring premiums and a stealth tax hike: Millions of motorists face a triple whammy of higher fuel duty, a hike in a ‘stealth tax’ and soaring premiums.
Daily Express
Future is robo as RBS jobs go: Millions of consumers struggling to afford financial advice will be given better and cheaper pensions and savings support in sweeping changes proposed by the Government and City watchdog.
Brexit would not damage our business with Britain, says world’s top Bosses: Britain’s business ties with the rest of the world would not be damaged if the country votes out of the European Union in the June referendum, according to top Executives from some of the biggest global companies.
Rich tax dodgers ‘cost’ U.K. £5 billion a year – more than enough to fund Osborne’s spending cuts: Wealthy tax dodgers cost the country more than £5 billion a year in lost revenues – enough to plug George Osborne’s hole in the public finances, according to new research.
The Scottish Herald
Edinburgh-based Miller Homes says outlook good for growth in Scotland: The Chief Executive of housebuilding giant Miller Homes has hailed the strength of the market in central Scotland where the firm plans to grow and insisted the boom in residential property prices is sustainable.
Chairman of Murray International Trust expresses disappointment and frustration after net asset value falls: The Chairman of the £1.3 billion Murray International Trust has expressed disappointment and frustration over the company’s investment performance last year.
Pinnacle Technology buys up remaining stake in County Durham telecoms firm: Pinnacle Technology, the IT and telecoms group founded in Paisley, is paying £586,000 to buy the 70% stake it does not already own in Stockton-on-Tees-based telecoms reseller Accent Telecom North.
Law firm Gillespie Macandrew reports record year and plans further growth: Scottish law firm Gillespie Macandrew said it planned to recruit another 20 partners and staff this year as it announced it had broken through the £10 million annual fee income level for the first time.
International investors propping up Scotland’s commercial property market: More than half of all property investment in Scotland now comes from overseas, with U.S. investment increasing by 209% in the last year.
The Scotsman
SSE sells Clyde Wind Farm stake for £355 million: Power supplier SSE has signed a £355 million deal to sell almost half its stake in a complex of wind farms in South Lanarkshire.
Five-a-side firm Goals hit by ‘disappointing’ year: Goals Soccer Centres, the five-a-side football pitch operator, said its profits tumbled by more than a fifth last year following a downturn in sales.
Energy sector downturn continues after drop in orders: Oil and gas firms experienced a fall in orders last month as the downturn in the sector continues to hit Scotland’s economy.
Grangemouth strike expected to close key Forth port for 2 weeks: Shipping freight operations at Scotland’s biggest container port were set to grind to a halt as staff began a two-week strike over changes to working conditions.
Few small firms believe budget will be good for business: Less than a third of small firms in Scotland believe this week’s budget will bring benefits for them, according to a new survey.
City A.M.
Humiliation: Former energy secretary slams government over risk of lights going out: Former energy secretary Lord David Howell has ripped into the government’s energy policy, saying that Britain has fallen into a “humiliating” position.
HR lady calling: Cosmetics company Avon reduces headcount by around 2,500 worldwide as struggling firm sets out new transformation plan, including moving headquarters to U.K.: Avon revealed that it would be cutting its headcount by around 2,500 positions in a bid to transform the struggling cosmetics company.
Rosetta Stone names new Chief Executive as language learning software provider reveals narrowing losses for full year ended December 2015: Language software company Rosetta Stone revealed its new Chief Executive alongside narrowing losses in its results for its year ended December 2015.
Trainline buys Captain Train in bid for European expansion: Rail ticket provider Trainline has bought Paris-based rival Captain Train. The value of the deal has not been disclosed, however City A.M. understands that it was paid for via a recent fundraising in which Trainline raised just over €100 million (£78 million).
Fidelity analysts back consumer and tech sectors as utilities, industrials and energy lose their appeal: The consumer and tech sectors will drive corporate earnings growth this year, a survey of analysts at a U.S. investment giant revealed.
Opec is predicting lower demand for oil in 2016, resulting in an increase in excess supply in the market: Global demand for oil is expected to be less than previously thought in 2016, according to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec).
Publishing and events company Ascential reports return to pretax profit in 2015 after flotation this year: Ascential, the Cannes Lions advertising festival Owner that floated on the London Stock Exchange this year, returned to pretax profit in 2015.
Russia predicts oil production freeze deal could be signed in April: A historic deal among some of the world’s biggest oil producers to freeze production could be inked in April and exclude Iran, Russian energy Minister Alexander Novak said.
3D Systems share price up as 3D printer company announces that revenues have increased in its results for full year ended December 2015: Share price in 3D Systems rose after the company revealed its revenues inched up for its full year ended December 2015.
Applegreen share price rises 3%, fuelled by 15% revenue growth: The share price of Applegreen rose 3% after the petrol forecourt retailer reported a 15% growth in revenue in the year it went public.
Fitch: European Central Bank’s cheap lending will offer limited relief to Eurozone banks: Ratings agency Fitch has said Eurozone bank profits will continue to come under pressure despite a new wave of cheap lending from the central bank.
