The Times
L&G on buying spree despite disappointing results: Legal & General underlined its interest in snapping up life insurance pension business as it unveiled annual results that disappointed the market.
Hastings calls for action on nuisance claims: The government should intensify efforts to clamp down on insurance claims driven by the claims management industry, according to the Boss of Hastings.
Shamed City trader admits illegal trades: A former trader at one of the country’s largest investment Managers has admitted insider trading that brought in profits of more than £150,000.
Fidelity backs $125 million hi-tech farming fund: Two international investors will back the creation of Europe’s largest fund focusing on applying new technologies to agriculture.
Antofagasta becomes latest miner to cut dividend: Antofagasta is preserving cash for potential acquisitions while keeping its debt in check, it revealed.
Scotgold digs deep to keep its losses down: Scotgold Resources has narrowed its interim losses helped by a reduction in financing charges.
Ocado ships 250,000 orders a week and shrugs off Amazon threat: Ocado’s sales have risen but the size of its average basket has shrunk and there is still no sign of the online grocer’s elusive international licensing agreement.
H&M takes gloves and hats off in sales fight: H &M, the fashion house that competes with Zara and Gap to be the biggest clothes seller in the world, shifted another £4 billion of kit in the three months to February.
The Independent
Oil exploration: Plan to drill in Atlantic Ocean for first time scrapped by U.S. government: More than a year after it dangled the prospect of drilling for the first time in the Atlantic Ocean to a hungry oil sector, U.S. officials reversed course and said they were scrapping the plan.
Balfour Beatty is still only halfway to recovery, says construction company’s Boss Leo Quinn: The extensive rebuilding job at the U.K.’s biggest construction company Balfour Beatty is only half done, said Boss Leo Quinn as it racked up a £199 million annual loss.
Insurance Boss declares that new Solvency II safety rules were a waste of £5 billion: Billions spent by the insurance industry to comply with new EU-wide capital rules have been a waste of money, the Chief Executive of Legal & General has said.
Financial Times
Hastings declares first dividend as profits jump: U.K. motor insurer Hastings, which listed on the London Stock Exchange last year, revealed a one-fifth jump in pretax profits on Tuesday and declared its first dividend.
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Barclays cuts share awards to top Executives: Barclays has paid its top Managers £8.7 million in shares from deferred bonus schemes and new stock awards, halving the value of the bank’s annual payout for the second consecutive year.
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Gem Diamonds shares sparkle despite slow price recovery: Gem Diamonds reported an incipient turnround in the diamond market but said it would suspend plans to expand its newest project until prices had more firmly recovered.
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Legal & General warns dividend growth set to slow: Legal & General has signalled an end to the days of rapid dividend growth as it said that future increases would be more in line with progress in the underlying business.
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Valeant halves in value on default alarm: Shares in Valeant lost half their value on Tuesday after the besieged Canadian drugmaker raised the prospect of defaulting on its $30 billion of debt and slashed full-year profit targets for the second time in five months.
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Renault and Nissan choose Nicolas Maure to lead Russia’s AvtoVAZ: Renault and Nissan have named Nicolas Maure as the new Boss of AvtoVAZ, Russia’s largest carmaker.
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Lockheed hails progress on hypersonic military aircraft: Lockheed Martin revealed on Tuesday it is on the brink of a technological breakthrough that could lead to the U.S. developing military aircraft that can fly six times the speed of sound.
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Disney to revive Indiana Jones series: Walt Disney is reviving the Indiana Jones series with plans to release a fifth movie in 2019 featuring Harrison Ford as the swashbuckling archaeologist.
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Sony to launch PlayStation VR in October: PlayStation’s VR headset will go on sale in October costing $399, more than $200 below its two main rivals in virtual reality, Sony announced at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco on Tuesday.
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UberEats expands food delivery service: The battleground over food delivery services is heating up as Uber prepares to launch a new restaurant delivery service in Paris, Melbourne and half a dozen U.S. cities in the coming weeks.
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Former rivals join forces in A$9 billion Asciano bid: Former rivals Qube Holdings and Canadian asset Manager Brookfield have teamed up to acquire Australian ports and rail operator Asciano for more than A$9 billion ($6.7 billion).
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Lex:
Jefferies: sausage-making: Jefferies’ long-time head, Richard Handler, is convinced of the firm’s competitive advantage. In the firm’s earnings report on Tuesday, he said that as the big Wall Street houses retreated to retail and commercial banking, “there is a significant long-term opportunity for Jefferies”.
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SocGen/Kleinwort: marrying into wealth: Nobody buys a venerable financial institution for its distinguished history. What makes such entities valuable is their distinguished client bases, whose assets banks want to manage in return for hefty fees. So it is with Societe Generale’s purchase (for an undisclosed price) of the U.K. business of Kleinwort Benson, one of the oldest names in British banking.
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Valeant: the end: A year ago Valeant’s business model was simple. Buy undervalued products and companies. Use cheap financing so the deals are accretive to earnings a share. Move the targets to Valeant’s low-tax Canadian domicile, cut costs and push prices up.
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Lombard:
A gunfighting grocer’s dilemma: Gunfighters must have many dilemmas. Plain bullets or dumdums? Stetson or topper for the big shootout? The original Gunfighter’s Dilemma is a paradox that questions whether it is advantageous to draw first.
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Call of Jutey: The process by which Kleinwort Benson and Hambros are to combine is equally impenetrable. Appropriately, the Founders of both famous City businesses hailed from Schleswig-Holstein in Jutland.
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The Daily Telegraph
Sir Martin Sorrell receives £63 million pay cheque: Sir Martin Sorrell, Founder and Chief Executive of advertising giant WPP, will receive a £63 million pay cheque in one of the largest corporate payouts in history.
AEP: U.S. inflation rears its ugly head as global cycle nears danger zone: The trigger for the next global recession is at last coming into view after a series of loud distractions and false alarms. The Atlanta Fed’s gauge of “sticky-price” inflation in the U.S. soared to a post-Lehman peak of 3% in February.
New Year resolutions boost The Gym Group: Low-cost fitness club chain The Gym Group has enjoyed a 42,000 surge in membership numbers since the turn of the year, boosted by New Year’s resolutions to get fit after the Christmas party season.
Central bank Governor resigns over $81 million cyber heist: Bangladesh’s central bank Governor has been forced to resign after a $81 million (£75 million) cyber heist from the bank’s account at the U.S. Federal Reserve.
BT Openreach misses 1,000 appointments a week as Patterson defends record to MPs: BT’s Chief Executive Gavin Patterson has defended Openreach’s record on broadband installations, even as it emerged the network division misses 1,000 appointments a week.
Heathrow appoints firms to help with controversial third runway: Heathrow is pushing ahead with its controversial proposal for a third runway by appointing four contractors to help with its expansion, even though the Government is yet to decide whether to give the airport’s plan the green-light.
The Questor Column:
Avoid French Connection as turnaround struggles: French Connection is proving just how difficult it is to turn around a high street-based clothing retailer, with losses widening to £4.7 million last year. The retailer is more exposed to the changing habits of shoppers as only about a quarter of its sales come from online. Retail sales declined 10.6% to £92.4 million, and this caused the underlying operating losses in the retail business to widen from £11.3 million, to £15.6 million. French Connection closed three stores across the U.K. and Europe, bringing the total to 127, and more than halved its retail space in North America. Neil Williams, Chief operating officer, expects the closure of up to three further sites in the U.K. and Europe during the coming financial year. Elsewhere in the business the wholesale revenue declined by 4.5% to £71.8 million, while the licensing of the French Connection brand improved income by 12% to £7.5 million. The company suffered a cash outflow of £9 million on the poor trading last year, leaving net cash of £14 million at the end of January, down from £23 million a year earlier. Mr Williams expects another slight cash outflow in the year ahead, bringing net cash down to £12 million by the end of January 2017. French Connection shares have a net asset value of about 55p, but nearly all that asset value is in clothing stock and debtors. Investors are therefore highly exposed if retail sales take another turn for the worse in the year ahead. There is far too much risk for Questor to be comfortable investing here. Avoid. French Connection at 44.6p +0.6p. Questor says “Avoid”.
Mears a good bet for dividend income: Mears, the housing and social care provider, reported a 12% fall in pretax profits in its annual results, after the care division slumped to a loss. But a strong performance from the housing maintenance business meant management were confident enough to push through a 10% increase in the dividend. The immediate problems at Mears are coming from the provision of home care for the elderly and infirm. Under these contracts Mears agrees to provide the staff who provide care services for local councils around the U.K. The turnaround of this struggling business pushed Mears own care division to a loss of £1.6 million, from a £9.6 million profit a year earlier, even though revenues in the division moved 18% higher to £146 million. While the care industry is struggling, it also needs putting in the perspective of the wider group, as it only generates 16% of the revenues and currently generates no profit. Providing maintenance for council housing is far more important as it generates 84% of group revenues and all the profit. The housing business was further expanded by the acquisition of lettings agent Omega in October 2014, and this helped revenues rise £20 million, to £735 million over the last year. The majority of the work is maintenance contracts and Mears won an additional £900 million in contracts last year, including a significant contract to look after houses for key workers such as nurses and teachers. Chief Executive Mr Miles believes Mears is now well placed. The order book increased by £200 million to £3.5 billion and provides certainty for 96% of group revenues in the year ahead and 83% next year. Mears looks well placed for the long term, and investors will be rewarded with 12p in dividends in the year ahead while that work comes through. Hold. Mears Group at 409p -1p. Questor says “Hold”.
The Guardian
SFO ends foreign exchange fraud inquiry with no charges brought: A long-running investigation by the Serious Fraud Office into rigging of the £3.5tn-a-day foreign exchange markets has ended without any charges being issued against banks or individuals.
Sports Direct’s Mike Ashley to be ordered to appear before MPs: The Sports Direct Founder, Mike Ashley, is to be formally summonsed to appear before MPs to explain his company’s treatment of its workers.
RBS to cut almost 450 investment banking jobs in U.K.: Royal Bank of Scotland is cutting 448 investment banking jobs in the U.K., moving two-thirds of them to India.
Network Rail privatisation expected to be ruled out by report: A government-commissioned report into financing Britain’s railways is expected to rule out privatisation of the network following warnings that a sell-off would lead to higher fares.
Nightclubs out and coffee pods in as inflation basket updated: The decline of Britain’s nightclub scene has forced the government’s independent data gatherers to exclude admission prices to late night dance venues from the official inflation figures.
Daily Mail
£8.7 million bonuses for Barclays Bosses including £1.8 million for new Chief Executive Jes Staley: Nine Barclays Bosses have received bonuses worth more than £8.7 million in total.
French Connection fashions a turnaround after revealing annual losses of £4.7 million: French Connection has revealed an annual loss of £4.7 million and unveiled plans to turn around its flagging fortunes.
Investors return to oil as crude price creeps back up to $37 a barrel: Expert investors are piling cash back into oil as the price of a barrel starts to creep up again.
Migrant crisis hits Eurostar as profits almost halve after train operator is forced to pay compensation for delays: Profits at Eurostar almost halved after the cross-channel train operator paid compensation to passengers hit by delays caused by the migrant crisis.
Daily Express
Wearable technology firm Edesix signs body camera deal with Northern Ireland police: A breakthrough contract for Edesix, the body camera systems manufacturer, will take its security technology on to the frontline in Northern Ireland supplying its police service.
Sainsbury’s vow to take on rivals as they record their first sales growth for two years: Sainsbury’s has vowed to go “toe to toe” with rivals in the battle of the supermarkets as it returned to sales growth for the first time in more than two years.
The products so obsolete they’ve been cut from the inflation index: The official cost of living in Britain no longer features the cost of entry to nightclubs or CD-Roms, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.
Women hit by pension age changes should access payouts earlier, say MPs: Women caught out by a hike to the state pension age should be able to access benefits earlier but at a lower rate, according to MPs.
The Scottish Herald
Rate of decline of Scottish retail sales value slows sharply: The year-on-year pace of decline in the value of Scottish retail sales slowed significantly in February, the latest industry figures show.
Emergency aid package should benefit farmers and crofters: Scotland’s farmers and crofters should benefit from a new package of emergency aid drawn-up by the European Commission, according to Richard Lochhead the Scottish Government’s rural affairs secretary.
Macfarlane invests £300,000 in packaging innovation lab: Macfarlane Packaging, the Glasgow-based packaging business, has invested £300,000 in a new ‘packaging innovation lab’ in Milton Keynes.
Archangels spreads its wings with new exec appointment: Business angel syndicate Archangels has appointed Sarah Hardy as Chief investment officer.
Accountancy firm celebrates Audit Scotland success: Scottish accountancy firm Scott-Moncrieff has won four key external audit tenders with Audit Scotland, the public sector auditor.
Arrayjet secures Chinese contract worth £350,000: Arrayjet, the Scottish bio-printing specialist, has won a £350,000 order from a Chinese life sciences company that produces detection kits for conditions including infant deafness, Down’s syndrome and thalassemia, a blood disorder that can cause anaemia.
The Scotsman
Standard Life flexes financial planning arm: The financial planning division of Standard Life is to buy an adviser that looks after about £400 million of assets.
Record revenues for law firm Gillespie Macandrew: Legal firm Gillespie Macandrew has broken through the £10 million fee barrier, marking its fourth consecutive year of growth as it targets an expansion of its Perth and Glasgow operations.
ShareIn to power its first crowdfunded bond offering: Edinburgh-based crowdfunding platform ShareIn has hailed a “significant” deal to offer the first retail bond using its technology.
Scottish Government awards £10 million to low-carbon schemes: The Scottish Government has awarded over £10 million to support innovative large-scale low carbon local energy projects, Energy Minister Fergus Ewing announced.
City A.M.
Chipotle share price loses its spice as company reports dip in sales due to food-safety issues: Shares in Chipotle Mexican Grill have fallen by over three% in after-hours trading, after the company revealed a 26.1% decline in sales at established restaurants in February.
Bank of Japan expected to loosen policy next month as problems with negative interest rates start to emerge: Economists are betting on Japanese central bankers loosening policy further next month, but some have warned its policy of negative interest rates is already creating negative side effects.
U.S. retail sales fall 0.1% in February as cash spent on gasoline plummets: U.S. retail sales dropped in February, but were likely held down by lower prices.
Global finance M&A activity in 2016 hits seven-year high, with London Stock Exchange deal pushing U.K. to top of sector: Global finance mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity is at its highest year-to-date level since 2009, according to new figures.
Odds on Worldpay: Paddy Power Betfair strikes services and insights agreement with global payment provider: The bookmaking major Paddy Power Betfair has announced an agreement with global payments company Worldpay to provide payment processing services and gambling expertise for its online customers.
Silvertown Partnership prepares shortlist for funding of Royal Docks £3.5 billion scheme: The developers behind the £3.5 billion regeneration of Silvertown Quays in London’s Royal Docks are in talks with several investors about the next stage of funding as work on the first phase of the 62-acre scheme gets underway.
Eastman Kodak share price flat in after-hours trading as photography company’s turnaround on a roll with narrower losses for the year ended December 2015: Share price in Eastman Kodak stayed flat in after-hours trading as the photography company revealed that its losses had narrowed in its most recent set of results.
Cairn Energy boosts estimates at its Senegal oil field: Oil and gas explorer Cairn Energy has bumped up the resource estimate for its oil field off the coast of Senegal by 20%.
Circle Oil share price tumbles as it announces a strategic review: Circle Oil shares fell 20.2% to 2.10p this afternoon, after the embattled oil and gas explorer said it had appointed an Investec Bank to conduct a strategic review.
