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In the Papers - Adidas, Google, HSBC, Burberry

Published: 08:36 05 May 2017 BST

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Newspaper Summary

The Times

Adidas smashes it in America and China: A giant sales leap in North America and China has helped Adidas to outpace its bigger U.S. rival Nike.

Iran in talks with Britain over airliners: The British government is reported to be in talks with Tehran about providing export guarantees to ensure aircraft ordered by Iran’s national airline can be delivered.

Eurozone beats U.S. on growth: Growth in the eurozone’s private sector is bouncing back quickly, with business activity last month expanding at its fastest pace in six years.

Mortgage approvals at six-month low: Mortgage approvals fell to a six-month low in March amid signs that the housing market is slowing as a series of tax changes and economic uncertainty lead to caution.

Demand for gold slips as investors opt for dollars: The Trump administration’s promised infrastructure boom and the threat of U.S. interest rate rises has quelled demand for gold, despite a recent clamour for safety by Chinese investors.

Trinity Mirror print advert revenues fall: The owner of the Daily Mirror reported a 19% slide in revenues from print advertising, offering more evidence that Britain’s newspaper industry is suffering from a rapid switch to online providers such as Google and Facebook.

Randgold boosts payout after good first quarter: Randgold has urged the Congolese government not to use the mining industry as a cash cow as it moves towards ramping up payouts for shareholders.

Canberra insists BHP keeps Australian listing: The Australian government promised to block any move by BHP Billiton to ditch its Australian stock market listing in favour of London, scuttling a central demand of the activist investor stalking the world’s largest mining group.

Bosses warn LSE against going soft to lure Aramco: City regulators have been warned against loosening U.K. listing requirements in an attempt to lure Saudi Aramco to float in London.

Glencore ups forecast on trading: Glencore expects its huge commodity trading business to make $100 million more this year than originally forecast.

The Independent

Detox Kitchen: The healthy food delivery service that wants to be the new Pret a Manger: Lily Simpson, the chef and co-Founder of Detox Kitchen, started her business with the simple and humble idea of making healthy food “really delicious”.

Small and medium-sized businesses start to feel the pinch of inflation: A survey of more than 370 small and medium-sized manufacturers has shown that new orders grew at their fastest rate in three years during the first quarter of 2017, but inflationary pressures are starting to bite.

Apple CEO Tim Cook hits back at Donald Trump’s attacks: Apple Boss Tim Cook pushed back against Donald Trump’s attacks, defending the tech giant’s record of investing in its home country and announcing a $1 billion fund for advanced manufacturing in the U.S.

Just 1% of U.K. ‘strongly opposed’ to renewables: Just 1% of the public are “strongly opposed” to renewable energy, according to a new Government survey.

London estate agents offering buyers free cars and iPads to win sales: Thinking about buying a new iPad or even a new car? You could get one completely free, but you might have to buy a house.

Italy’s bankrupt national airline is being put up for sale: Alitalia will be put up for sale in two weeks having earlier this week fallen into administration.

The Daily Telegraph

U.K. economy back on the up after poor start to 2017: Britain is bouncing back from an economic blip in the early months of 2017, with new surveys raising hopes that the much-feared slowdown has not yet arrived.

Elliott to warn Akzo’s independence will lead to more job losses: Activist investor Elliott Advisors will fire the latest salvo in the tug-of-war over Dulux owner Akzo Nobel by claiming the Dutch company’s plan to remain independent could result in four times more job losses than if it was taken over by U.S. rival PPG Industries, The Daily Telegraph understands.

Hammond reassures City as euro-clearing battle with Brussels heats up: Philip Hammond tried to reassure the City over its future as a financial hub following threats from Brussels to control euro-clearing, with the Chancellor warning that proposed EU changes could weaken financial stability.

Activist investor rallies peers in threat to block DX Group’s mooted deal with rival John Menzies: Activist investor Gatemore has said it now has enough support from other shareholders in logistics company DX Group to block its mooted deal with rival John Menzies.

Google settles huge £259 million tax bill to end criminal investigation into alleged avoidance: Google will pay €306 million (£259 million) to settle a tax dispute in Italy and end a criminal investigation into whether it avoided paying the full amount on its revenues in the country for more than a decade.

Former tech unicorn Ve Interactive sold for just £2 million: Ve Interactive, the advertising technology company once valued at £1.5 billion that was bought out of administration last week, was sold for just £2 million.

The Questor Column:

Buy this newly listed fund – its manager is desperate to show that he hasn’t lost his touch: It’s unusual for Questor to cover a newly listed investment trust, because of the absence of a track record and because an appreciable discount is unlikely to have opened up. But Pershing Square, which made its debut on the London Stock Exchange on Tuesday, is a little different – for several reasons. First, the fund has a track record stretching back to 2004 and has been listed in Amsterdam since 2014. Second, it has been trading at a big discount in Holland and the London-listed shares are following suit. Third, the fund is much larger than would be expected for a newly listed vehicle and could enter the FTSE 250 index in future. The fund is run on an “activist” basis by Bill Ackman, a high-profile American hedge fund manager. Before that one poor investment, which was a holding in Valeant, the U.S. pharmaceuticals giant, the fund had generated average annual returns of 21%, an extremely impressive figure. They have since recovered somewhat to close at £12.21 ($15.76) in London last night. The fund is also taking its own steps to reduce the discount by buying back its shares. Hedge funds normally charge high fees but, for the moment at least, Pershing Square will cost just 1.5% a year. It can also charge a performance fee, but not until the net asset value regains its previous high of $26.37 a share. This means that investors could make gains of about 45% on an NAV basis before they have to pay a performance fee. There are other advantages for investors nervous about the markets or about Britain’s future outside the EU. Questor says ‘Buy’.

The Guardian

Oil plunges to lowest level for five months amid global growth fears: Oil prices have fallen sharply along with other commodities as the prospect of slowing growth in the U.S. and China blunts optimism about the global economy.

HSBC spends more on fighting financial crime as profits fall by 19%: HSBC has been hiring more staff to fight financial crime in an attempt to overcome a series of scandals which have plagued it in recent years.

U.K. car sales drop by a fifth after tax changes and price rises: Car sales tumbled in April at the sharpest rate since 2010 as government cuts to subsidies for green cars and a rise in prices hit the market for new vehicles.

Société Générale to pay £815 million to settle Libyan lawsuit: The French bank Société Générale is to pay €963 million (£815 million) to settle a legal battle with the Libyan investment fund that dates back to the Gaddafi regime.

Amazon to triple R&D staff at Cambridge base: Amazon is to more than triple its research and development team in Cambridge working on tech innovations such as its Alexa digital assistant, delivery drones and Echo smart speaker.

Pfizer to give out breast cancer drug free while awaiting NHS decision: A drug described as one of the most important advances in treating breast cancer in the past 20 years is to be given to women in the U.K. for free while the medicines regulator decides whether it should be available on the NHS.

Daily Mail

Cheap menu items at Frankie & Benny’s leave a bad taste with a projected £13 million profit loss: Restaurant Group slid down the FTSE 250 after a broker said the new menu at its Frankie & Benny’s chain of restaurants could slash profits.

Rolls-Royce workers stage carmaker’s first-ever strike over potential £160k pension loss: Workers at the Rolls-Royce car factory in Goodwood are due to strike for the first time in a long-running dispute over pensions at owners BMW.

Salaries leap by more than 7% in some parts of the U.K. but slump by nearly 12% in others: Salaries have increased by more than 7% in some parts of the U.K. in the past year, although they have fallen by more than 11% in other locations, research by jobs site CV-Library reveals.

Leading British satellite company Inmarsat joins the trend, as shareholders revolt over fat cat pay and losses: A leading British satellite company suffered a bruising revolt over fat cat pay just hours after it plunged into the red. The rebellion, at its AGM in London, came just hours after Inmarsat reported losses of £6.1 million for the first quarter of the year.

Bookmaker Ladbrokes Coral sees shares slide off the back of hefty Grand National payouts: Bookmaker Ladbrokes Coral said sporting results ‘gave with one hand and took with the other’ in a turbulent start to the year.

Apple’s crisis talks with Imagination end in deadlock as U.K. chip maker fights for a multi-billion-pound divorce payout: IPhone chip maker Imagination Technologies has begun formal proceedings to secure a multi-billion-pound divorce payout from Apple after talks hit a deadlock.

HSBC bankers face criminal probe over claims they helped super-rich and corrupt clients avoid Spanish tax: Three British bankers are facing an investigation over alleged money laundering at the Swiss branch of HSBC.

Daily Express

Marine Le Pen’s dual currency proposal rejected by France’s bank Chief: France’s central bank Governor warned against introducing two parallel currencies as suggested by Presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, saying it would undermine confidence.

HSBC five-year fix ramps up competition as borrowers urged to switch: Homeowners are benefiting from fierce competition among lenders, as HSBC and Yorkshire Building Society reignite a price war with the launch of a new ultra low mortgage rates.

Greece debt deal is off! Germany halts bail out demanding more austerity and pension cuts: Germany says it will not support a bail out deal for Greece until it pushes through laws to cut pensions and inflict more austerity on its citizens.

Emmanuel Macron get sums wrong in TV debate saying France’s economy is bigger than it is: Emmanuel Macron made a gaffe during the French election debate with Marine Le Pen when he got his maths wrong on the economy.

Jean-Claude Juncker bids to control markets outside EU in latest power grab: Jean-Claude Juncker’s European Commission has moved to take control of financial institutions located outside the European Union (EU).

The Scottish Herald

Burger chain to open in Glasgow: Californian build-your-own-burger chain The Counter Custom Burgers is moving into the U.K. with the opening of outlets in Glasgow and London.

Jenkins quits at Sports Direct: Sports Direct, the high street retailer controlled by Rangers investor Mike Ashley, has parted company with its only female board member.

Services sector growth accelerates: U.K. services sector growth accelerated slightly in April, but inflationary pressures mounted, a survey shows.

RBS speeds up property lending process: Royal Bank of Scotland has said customers that want to borrow up to £2 million for commercial property investment will get a decision on the creditworthiness of their application in as little as 45 minutes under a new scheme.

Sigma hail earnings and potential of trust: Sigma Capital Group, the private sector rental property specialist (PRS), has reported profits up by more than £1 million as it outlined flotation details for its new real estate investment trust.

The Scotsman

Former BHS owner’s business placed into liquidation: Former BHS owner Dominic Chappell’s family business has been placed into liquidation, paving the way for administrators to seek £6 million owed to the collapsed retailer.

Shell earnings double amid crude prices recovery: Royal Dutch Shell more than doubled its earnings in the first three months of the year amid a bounce-back in the sector thanks to rising crude prices.

Next cuts profit outlook after 8.1% plunge in sales: Retail giant Next has cut its profit outlook again and warned trading remains under pressure after an 8.1% plunge in high street sales.

Price cutting helps push sales higher at Morrisons: Morrisons has reported better-than-expected sales growth in the first quarter after reaping the rewards of price cuts and strong Easter trading.

Call for farm rent reviews to be shelved over Brexit: Scotland’s landlords and tenants have been urged to factor the possible impacts which Brexit was likely to have on the agricultural sector into any rent review negotiations – and to consider whether this was the right time to make changes.

City A.M.

Burberry is moving 300 jobs from London to Leeds as it heads to the “home of the trench coat”: Trenchcoat maker (and poncho innovator) Burberry has unveiled plans to move 300 jobs to Leeds as it “reinforces our commitment to the... home of our trench coat”.

Ferrari revs up record quarter on strong supercar sales: Italian car giant Ferrari purred to a better-than-expected 36% rise in first quarter core earnings, sending shares higher.

Tesla shares stall as jitters set in over future sales as car giant posts wider loss than expected: Shares in Elon Musk’s electric car giant Tesla have fallen 5% on concerns over future sales.

Pure Gym muscles in on £500 million sale after abandoning London stock market flotation: Pure Gym, the fitness club operator that was forced to abort plans for a stock market listing last year, is gearing up for a £500 million sale.

Punch Taverns swings to a half-year loss ahead of its sale to Heineken: Punch Taverns moved to a loss in the first half of the year as uncertainty following the sale of the group and the introduction of the Pubs Code hit letting activity.

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