Newspapers: The Times, Independent, FT, Telegraph, Guardian, Mail, Express, Herald 111116

The Times

Mr Selfridge and family find running stores pays dividend: Canada’s wealthy Weston family has received a dividend of more than £14 million from its global department store business which includes Selfridges & Co.

Costs cast shadow over Bovis sales: Bovis Homes said that it was on track to deliver record revenues and higher profits for this year as it was boosted by strong demand for homes and support from the government’s Help to Buy scheme.

Oil slide resumes amid glut concerns: Crude prices resumed their downward march after the International Energy Agency (IEA) warned that the oil market will remain heavily oversupplied next year if OPEC fails to agree on a co-ordinated output cut this month.

New inflation measure would cut rail fares and water bills: Britain’s national statistician has urged the authorities to switch to a measure of inflation that includes housing costs and council tax to provide a more comprehensive picture of the way that prices are changing.

Vedanta buoyed by hopes of American infrastructure boom: Vedanta Resources cheered investors with a surprise interim dividend as the shares received a double boost from the payout and hopes of a Donald Trump-inspired boom in infrastructure spending.

£1 billion boost for 3i investors after fall in sterling: The investment group 3i has returned £1 billion to shareholders in the six months to the end of September after receiving a boost from the weak pound.

Rutland loses control of hire purchase firm to its lender: The lender to Buy as You View, one of Britain’s largest hire-purchase companies, has taken control of the retailer, which is battling to improve its performance in a challenging market.

Rates leave bitter taste at pub group: One of London’s leading pub Bosses has criticised the “ludicrously high” increase in business rates, calling some of the rate rises in the capital “absolutely scary”.

The Independent

U.S. stock market hits record high after Donald Trump’s victory: The Dow Jones hit an all-time high on Thursday, defying many predictions of a market meltdown in the wake of Donald Trump’s shock election victory.

Donald Trump advisers Carl Icahn and John Paulson make more than $1 billion from their own policies: Two hedge fund billionaires who advised Donald Trump on his campaign made more than $1 billion (£800 million) on Wednesday as their shares were boosted by policies they helped to draft.

Financial Times

Aldermore signals likely dividend debut in 2017: The Chief Executive of challenger bank Aldermore has said that its board will discuss paying its debut dividend next year after the specialist U.K. mortgage and small business lender generated capital organically for the first time.

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Shell aims to expand in Brazil’s deep fields after rules shake-up: Royal Dutch Shell will seek to expand in Brazil’s ultra deepwater oil exploration and production fields following regulatory changes that are expected to open up the sector, Chief Executive Ben van Beurden said.

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ConocoPhillips plans cautious increase in 2017 oil output: ConocoPhillips, one of the largest U.S. oil and gas producers, plans to increase output by no more than 2% next year, in a sign of how many companies are only cautiously stepping up activity following the stabilisation of crude prices.

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Fitbit denies receiving takeover bid after mysterious filing: Fitbit has denied receiving a takeover bid after a little-known Chinese fund made a regulatory announcement purporting to describe a $2.8 billion offer for the fitness tracker maker.

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Court rules NHS can provide anti-HIV drug: The National Health Service can provide an expensive drug that is highly effective at preventing HIV transmission, the Court of Appeal has ruled.

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Siemens confirms plans to spin off healthcare unit: Shares in Siemens on Thursday hit a 16-year high on confirmation of plans to spin off its healthcare business, but the industrial conglomerate also said its 2017 revenue could be constrained by issues stemming from the Brexit vote and the U.S. elections.

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Tata accuses Cyrus Mistry of overseeing weak performance: Tata Sons on Thursday issued a lengthy justification of the dismissal of chairman Cyrus Mistry, accusing him of overseeing weak performance while undermining the traditional structure of India’s largest conglomerate.

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Puma on track to hit upper end of earnings target: Puma expects its full-year results to be at the top end of expectations after reporting a strong third quarter.

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Zalando raises profit forecast on strong third quarter: Zalando, Europe’s largest online-only fashion retailer, raised its profitability forecast for the year, after posting better than expected third-quarter results.

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Snapchat owner sells video sunglasses from pop-up Snapbot booths: Snap, the owner of Snapchat, will sell its video sunglasses from roaming bright yellow vending machines with one large eye dubbed Snapbots, in an unconventional retail model designed to excite its young fan base.

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Instagram gets ready to go Live with video: Instagram is gearing up to roll out live video in its photo app, joining a host of social media companies fighting to lure users away from traditionally televised events.

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Nintendo retro console sells out in Tokyo: Shops across Japan’s capital took less than an hour to sellout of a miniaturised, 33-year old games console on Thursday, as Nintendo re-released its original “Famicom” machine and staked its claim as the master of nostalgia.

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Lex:

Walt Disney: kneel, son: Although it is a traditionally boom-and-bust business, there is good visibility into Walt Disney’s studio division. Audiences are reliably lapping up movies such as Stars Wars, then buying related merchandise and visiting theme parks festooned with the same brands. Next year will suffer from fewer new releases but the pipeline is strong.

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U.S. consumer credit: loan survivors: On election day, OneMain, the leading outfit making unsecured personal loans via branches, saw its shares crash 40% after a poor 2017 forecast. There is little sign of a recession, but it will not take much of a downdraft to sting those companies that have exploited the economic and credit expansion of recent years.

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Millennium BCP: made in China: For the price of a flat in central Lisbon, a Chinese citizen can purchase the right to live and work in Portugal. Chinese conglomerate Fosun has opted to buy a bank instead. Shareholders in Millennium BCP are set to vote on Fosun’s offer to purchase new equity that will amount to 17% of Portugal’s largest listed lender. This sale is evidence of how BCP’s funding pressures leave it few options.

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Lombard:

AstraZeneca: Trump lifts it up: AstraZeneca has base-jumped off a cliff. Quarterly operating profits crashed 29% at constant exchange rates to about $1 billion on patent expires. The pharmaceuticals group is yanking hard on its parachute release by developing new drugs.

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Shedding the mechanic: Shed sales are going through the (felt) roof, writes Matthew Vincent. Don’t take Lombard’s word for it, take that of our second favourite website: Retail Gazette. It reports that last year, “more than 1,600 sheds were sold each day”. Our favourite website, GetSurrey.co.uk, claims more than half of the population now owns a shed, and 39% of the half that doesn’t wishes it did.

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The Daily Telegraph

Trump considers JPMorgan Boss Jamie Dimon for Treasury Secretary: Jamie Dimon, the Boss of JPMorgan, has reportedly been approached to become Donald Trump’s Treasury Secretary, even though the Wall Street heavyweight would be considered by most to be an outsider for role because he has repeatedly insisted he would not want the job.

Weak pound lifts revenues at Supergroup: Supergroup has received a lift from the Brexit vote after sterling’s slump following the referendum buoyed revenues at the fashion chain favoured by celebrities including David Beckham.

Google says EU competition charge threatens free Android: Google has attacked an EU crackdown on its Android software, claiming that efforts to impede the mobile operating system could harm Google’s ability to compete with Apple and threaten its ability to give Android away for free.

Johnston Press suffers ‘heavy Brexit effect’ with further sales decline: Johnston Press, the publisher of the i newspaper, has reported a further deterioration in sales and a “heavy Brexit effect” as it battles debts and pressure from shareholders.

Deloitte hit with record £4 million accounting fine over Aero Inventory collapse: Deloitte has been hit by a record £4 million fine and must pay at least £2.3 million in costs after the accountancy watchdog found that misconduct by the “Big Four” firm led to a now-collapsed aircraft parts wholesaler giving misleading financial information to investors.

The Questor Column:

Capitalise on Trump’s election with this pharma-rich investment trust: The trust is Edinburgh, which has been managed for the past two and a half years by Mark Barnett of Invesco Perpetual. Mr Barnett stepped into Neil Woodford’s shoes when the latter left to start his own fund management firm. While Mr Barnett has sometimes been viewed as Mr Woodford’s understudy, he has been at Invesco for 20 years and has a strong long-term performance record of his own. Over the past 10 years the open-ended funds he has been involved with have grown by 137.7%, which is vastly better than the 63.4% achieved on average by his peer group (figures from FE Trustnet, the investment analyst). Average annual growth from his funds has been 11.7% over the past 17 years, FE said. The Edinburgh trust under his stewardship has also continued its previous strong performance: it has risen by 33.8% (in terms of its net asset value), compared with 17.1% for the FTSE 100 and 20.2% for its investment trust peers. Mr Barnett has broadly continued the approach adopted by Mr Woodford for Edinburgh and Invesco’s open-ended Income and High Income funds, which he now runs too. Edinburgh’s competitive charge also gives it the edge over a similar trust also run by Mr Barnett, Perpetual Income & Growth, which has a charge of 1.06% as well as a performance fee. All told, Edinburgh gives investors access to a high-quality manager at a knockdown price. Questor says “Buy”.

The Guardian

Mexican peso sinks to new low as uncertainty hangs over Trump victory: Mexico’s peso sank again on Thursday, taking its biggest two-day tumble in more than 20 years as investors worried about how U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s policies could hit exports from Latin America’s second largest economy.

London-based banks face ‘nightmarish’ choices after Brexit: Global banking businesses will face nightmarish decisions if the U.K. loses its access to euro-clearing trading as part of the Brexit negotiations, the Japanese ambassador to the U.K. has warned.

Theresa May’s Nissan intervention was remarkable gesture, says ambassador: Theresa May’s “remarkable” intervention to personally reassure Nissan that Britain would remain a competitive market helped secure new investment at the firm’s Sunderland plant, the Japanese ambassador in London has said.

Amazon to spread Black Friday sales over two weeks: Amazon is to extend its Black Friday promotion to almost two weeks as retailers gear up for the biggest shopping day of the year. Billions of pounds are expected to be spent by shoppers over the Black Friday weekend, starting 25 November, and over the 12 days in the run-up to it.

Pensions Regulator seeks ‘multiples of £1 million’ from Chappell over BHS: The Pensions Regulator is seeking millions of pounds from Dominic Chappell and Retail Acquisitions in relation to the £571 million deficit in the BHS pension scheme.

Doing the chores valued at £1 trillion a year in the U.K.: The total value of all the unpaid work done by the U.K. population, mostly by women – from cooking meals and cleaning the house to childcare, DIY and gardening – has been officially valued at £1 trillion a year by the country’s top statisticians.

Daily Mail

Pharmaceuticals giant AstraZeneca sees profits fall by more than a quarter as rivals challenge its leading cholesterol drug: Pharmaceuticals giant AstraZeneca has seen profits fall by more than a quarter as rivals challenge its leading cholesterol drug. Its patent on Crestor, a statin, expired this year, meaning competitors can now produce cheaper generic versions. This pushed U.S. sales down by 82% in the three months to September 30.

National Grid could benefit from Trump election win if new U.S. President commits to spend big on infrastructure and create jobs: National Grid said it could benefit from Donald Trump’s election win if the new U.S. President delivers on his commitment to spend big on infrastructure and create jobs. National Grid, which manages the U.K.’s gas and electricity distribution networks, has a significant business in the U.S. in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New York.

Manufacturer Devro warns price war over sausage skins will drive down revenue next year: A price war over sausage skins will drive down revenue at manufacturer Devro next year, it has warned. Shares in the Scottish firm plunged after it forecast that sales would be 10% lower than expected in 2017.

Daily Express

ITV produces deals to cushion advertisement slowdown: ITV has refused to make a drama out of falling advertising revenues as it targets more acquisitions to “build a global content business of scale”.

Italy tries to swoop on City of London to ‘fix its Brexit problem’: Italy has offered the City of London a new “partnership” aimed at helping the city’s financial centre out of the “Brexit problem”.

Doom-mongers wrong again: Britain’s balance of trade strengthens after Brexit: Britain’s trade deficit with the rest of the world narrowed in the three months after the country’s momentous vote to unshackle itself from the failing European Union (EU), official statistics have revealed.

Jobs boost as Tredegar steelworks to reopen: A steelworks which closed a year ago is being reopened, creating new jobs and a welcome boost for the industry.

The Scottish Herald

Aegon hails stock market resilience as earnings fall: Aegon, the Dutch-listed pensions giant, has hailed the “resilience” shown by world markets following the Trump election victory as it reported a 7% fall in third quarter earnings.

Mackintosh brand set for Manhattan: An interiors brand inspired by Charles Rennie Mackintosh is set to be showcased in New York.

More investors putting faith in Scottish firms: A total of £430 million was invested in risk capital in Scotland last year, as more start-up companies found a willingness from investors to back their ambitious plans.

Airport achieves record October passengers: Edinburgh Airport has enjoyed its busiest-ever October – the seventh consecutive month in which its passenger numbers have exceeded one million.

Brewgooder wins Asda supply deal: Brewgooder, the beer business that directs its profits to clean water projects around the world, has secured its first supermarket supply deal.

Scottish brewer to make its first move into to England: Craft brewer Innis & Gunn has said it will accelerate plans to open its first Beer Kitchen in England after its crowdfunding initiative passed £1.36 million.

The Scotsman

$1 billion deal sees North Sea firm scale up its interests: The North Sea’s biggest deal of the year so far has seen an Aberdeen-based private equity-backed firm buy a string of assets in a transaction worth up to $1 billion (£810 million).

Edinburgh investor named fastest-growing mid-sized firm: Kiltearn Partners, an Edinburgh-based investment manager, was named as the fastest-growing medium-sized company in the U.K.

LendInvest hails ‘strong start’ to Scottish operation: Online mortgage lender LendInvest has insisted that Scotland is a “fantastic” market for property investment as it unveiled a “strong start” for its operations north of the Border.

Digital marketer Attacat in line for Google honours: Attacat, the Edinburgh-based digital marketing agency, is in the running for four awards from search engine giant Google.

Glasgow still on track despite office space fall-off: The commercial property market in Glasgow saw take-up of space drop in the third quarter of the year but remains on track for a positive 2016 overall.

City A.M.

Chemical and pharmaceutical firms swing to positive near term outlook: The U.K.’s biggest exporting sector – chemical and pharmaceutical – has seen a swing to confidence for the first time in over a year.

Tesco Bank fraud tars U.K. financial image, warns home secretary Amber Rudd: Scandals like the recent cyber-attack on Tesco Bank risk damaging the U.K.’s prized financial reputation, the Home Secretary has warned.

Deutsche Telekom posts mixed results and remains unsure over Trump and Brexit: Europe’s largest telcoms group Deutsche Telekom has posted a six% uptick in revenues for its third quarter, beating expectations.

Hikma Pharmaceuticals has cut its full year sales guidance from its U.S. generics business: FTSE 100 pharma firm Hikma has cut its full-year sales guidance for its U.S. generics business to roughly $600 million, against earlier analyst forecasts of $655 million.

A deflating day for Halfords shares as margins are squeezed: Shares in Halfords flopped 5% after revealing half-year profits had fallen by 12%.

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