The Times
City banks lose £100 million after bond trader fails: Five of the world’s largest investment banks have lost nearly £100 million in a trading collapse that has caused serious embarrassment in the City.
Dividends to slow despite bumper pharma payouts: The amount paid to investors in the form of dividends is expected to slow this year, putting further pressure on company share prices.
Co-op buys probate specialist to boost funerals business: The Co-operative Group is pushing further into legal services to improve its returns. It has bought Collective Legal Solutions, a Sheffield-based firm that specialises in wills and probate, for an undisclosed sum.
British love of a bargain is still the height of fashion: Poor weather may have ruined some retailers’ Christmases, but it was cheer all round at The Original Factory Shop. Sales at the discount department store sometimes described as a spit-and-sawdust version of TK Maxx jumped by 7.5% to £30.2 million in the five weeks to January 3. Like-for-like sales were up by 2.5%.
Mortgage lenders lift struggling Scottish economy: The Scottish economy returned to growth in the final month of the year — but only just, according to research being published.
The Independent
FCA attacked for considering the return of commission sales: The interim head of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Tracey McDermott, has been criticised by financial reform campaigners for mooting a return to the days of financial products being pushed by commission-driven sales staff.
Winter of content pulls Joules IPO closer: The fashion and lifestyle retailer Joules, best known for selling quirky wellington boots to well-off women, has pulled off a storming Christmas despite the poor weather hitting other high- street clothes chains.
Asda fires £500 million shot in supermarket price war: Asda has loaded the cannon for another salvo in the increasingly ferocious supermarket price war. The U.K. arm of the giant U.S. retailer Walmart said that it will spend a further £500 million cutting prices in its stores.
Financial Times
Small businesses prefer challenger banks to high street rivals: Small businesses that are clients of “challenger banks” are likely to be happier with the service they receive than those that use the biggest high street lenders.
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Small U.K. energy groups covered in red ink: Nine out of 10 small London-listed oil and gas companies are making losses, according to new data highlighting the full impact of the plunging crude prices on junior energy groups.
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Balfour Beatty agrees to begin work on 53-floor Canary Wharf tower: Balfour Beatty has agreed to begin preliminary work on a planned 53-storey residential tower in London, putting it on course to clinch a £150 million deal to build the skyscraper.
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Saudi Aramco listing presents challenge for investors: The management consultancy has emerged as an influential force among other key advisers to the kingdom’s powerbroker deputy crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, who is driving through a sweeping economic reform programme to counter the oil slump.
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Italian Reits look to test investors’ property appetite with IPOs: Two Italian real estate investment trusts are planning initial public offerings in coming weeks in a test of investor appetite for the country’s recovering commercial property sector.
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Volkswagen hopes catalytic converter will help repair vehicles: Volkswagen has devised a new catalytic converter that could fix the majority of the cars in the U.S. affected by the diesel emissions scandal, as details emerge of its attempts to satisfy regulators.
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Apple’s music streaming subscribers top 10 million: Apple has passed 10 million subscribers for its music streaming service, taking six months to hit a milestone that took its arch-rival Spotify six years to hit, say people familiar with the matter.
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Star Wars breaks Chinese box-office records: Star Wars: The Force Awakens has broken box-office records in China, after bringing in $53 million on Saturday and Sunday showings, lifting its global total to $1.73 billion.
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Lex:
American Express: identity crisis: Flash an American Express card at dinner and your date (or your parents) will probably be impressed. Yet a handful of long-time partners of the elite credit card group are becoming rather less beguiled. Last year, Amex dropped a 16-year relationship with warehouse retailer Costco under which the two offered a “co-branded” card. The impending merger of hotel chains Starwood and Marriott has also raised questions about the future of the Starwood Amex card that many business travellers cherish.
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The Daily Telegraph
U.K. house price to crash as global asset prices unravel: Asset prices around the world are collapsing as the global economy slows and U.K. housing will not escape.
Britain abandons onshore wind just as new technology makes it cheap: The world’s biggest producer of wind turbines has accused Britain of obstructing use of new technology that can slash costs, preventing the wind industry from offering one of the cheapest forms of energy without subsidies.
Markets battling ‘tsunami’ of negativity: China is driving a “tsunami of negative psychology” that is keeping global markets down, a Wall Street analyst has warned.
Japan’s Asahi plans £2 billion bid for Peroni and Grolsch beers: Japanese beverage maker Asahi is planning to wade into the bidding for Grolsch and Peroni, with a £2.4 billion bid for the popular European beer brands, the Tokyo-based Yomiuri Shimbu newspaper has reported.
Mobile operators could be ‘held to ransom’ by farmers: British mobile customers could be left without signal and face higher phone bills if the Government fails to prevent landowners from charging huge rents on mobile masts, according to operators.
Nick Candy’s broadband company signs deal with BT: Satellite Solutions Worldwide, the broadband company part-owned by property entrepreneur Nick Candy, is expected to sign a deal with BT to sell cut-price internet to households with poor connections.
Virtual reality tipped to break billion-dollar barrier in 2016: Virtual reality technology is finally due for a breakthrough year in 2016, with sales tipped to reach $1 billion (£700 million) for the first time, research from Deloitte claims.
The Guardian
Sainsbury’s steps up battle with Aldi and Lidl by doubling Netto trial: Sainsbury’s is to double the size of its Netto trial as it steps up its battle with the discount retailers Aldi and Lidl.
Asia Pacific shares suffer more losses amid China policy confusion: Asia Pacific shares have suffered another torrid session after confusion about the direction of the Chinese currency caused wild gyrations on the regions stock markets.
British firms and consumers upbeat in face of global risks: Consumers have started the year in confident mood despite the Chancellor warning the country faces a “dangerous cocktail of new threats”, as the outlook for jobs improves and the cost of a weekly shop is cut by low petrol prices and intense competition among the supermarkets
U.K. first-time buyer numbers fall for first time in four years: The number of first-time buyers in the U.K. housing market has fallen for the first time in four years, with the typical deposit required to buy a property now above £30,000.
Standard Chartered veteran Mike Rees set for £500k a year pension: The second-in-command at Standard Chartered stands to receive a pension worth almost £500,000 a year when he leaves the emerging markets-focused bank at the end of 2016.
Burberry attracts the attention of short-sellers: The pressure is building on Burberry Boss Christopher Bailey, one of the best-paid Bosses in Britain, with hedge funds betting hundreds of millions of pounds on the luxury brand enduring a difficult year.
Daily Mail
Tidal wave batters U.K. supermarkets as competition from discounters takes its toll on festive sales: The High Street bloodbath over Christmas looks set to spread to Britain’s biggest supermarkets this week as ‘the worst storm in retail history’ takes its toll.
Investors braced for another week of turmoil on stock markets after the worst ever start to the year for the Footsie: Investors are facing another week of turmoil on global stock markets after the worst ever start to the year for the FTSE 100 index.
Daily Express
Britain’s manufacturers face a tough 2016 as confidence falls: Britain’s factories face another tough year as confidence falters and risks outweigh opportunities, research has found.
The Scottish Herald
McAllister Litho investing more than £3 million: One of Scotland’s largest independent printing businesses is investing more than £3 million in new machinery and software.
Glasgow Chamber “desperate” to do more to help companies export: Glasgow Chamber of Commerce is “desperate” to do more to help companies with their export efforts, its Chief Executive has declared.
The Scotsman
Scots economy returns to growth despite jobs decline: Scotland’s private sector returned to growth territory last month thanks to an upturn in new business but staffing numbers fell for the first time in five months, raising questions marks over the resilience of the economic recovery.
City Partnership in digital services push to meet demand: The City Partnership (U.K.), which was set up ten years ago and provides a range of back-office accounting and fund administration services, is rolling out two new divisions to meet expanding client demand.
U.K. retail sales end 2015 on high despite growth hit: U.K. retail sales ended 2015 on a “healthy note”, despite growth being hit by discounting, shoppers trading down to cheaper brands and price deflation, a survey suggests.
Wind energy output ‘could power most Scots homes’: Wind power output hit record levels last year, generating enough energy to supply the electrical needs of 97% of Scottish homes.
City A.M.
London leads the U.K.’s economic expansion: London’s economic growth is outpacing the rest of the U.K., according to new survey figures.
London house prices: First-time buyers pay £91,000 deposit as fewer get on the property ladder in 2015: First-time home buyers needed an average deposit of £91,409 to buy a house in the capital last year, according to figures from a major British lender.
Smaller businesses are less optimistic on growth: Confidence among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) has dropped, according to new survey figures published this morning.
New mobile challenger bank Starling Bank gets $70 million investment as Pinsent Masons finds 38% of Londoners would consider using payment apps: A new British bank focused exclusively on current accounts has secured a $70 million (£48 million) investment from an American investor.
U.K. legal costs hit $700 million for Nortel: The ongoing row over bankrupt Canadian tech giant Nortel Networks has racked up legal costs in the U.K. of over $700 million (£482 million), sources close to the proceedings tell City A.M.
Bank of England’s monetary policy committee to keep interest rates at record lows this week: The Bank of England’s committee of rate-setters will be keeping interest rates at record lows this week.
