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In the Papers - BHP Billiton, Goldman Sachs, Ford, Southern rail

Published: 08:27 23 Aug 2017 BST

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Newspaper Summary

The Times

Bank of England should close cheap funding scheme for retail banks, says economist Simon Ward: The Bank of England should shut down its £115 billion cheap funding scheme for high-street lenders because it has served its purpose and is now undermining policy, a top economist has said.

Bosses bring investment to a halt as confidence in economy tumbles: Employers are scaling back their hiring and investment plans as fears mount over the consequences of Brexit.

Investors dig into Chilean miner as dividend triples: Antofagasta cheered investors by raising its dividend on a day when copper prices hit a three-year high.

Room for a record deal in Plaza sale: The Beatles once stayed there, as did Marilyn Monroe. It featured in F Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest.

Energy supplier hires No 10 aide who backed price cap: Ovo has hired Theresa May’s former energy adviser to work with its Chief Executive as it plots its expansion into home services and technology.

A White old howler on Asda’s bags: Thousands of supermarket bags for life will have their shelf life cut short after a spelling error by Asda at the opening of its long-awaited store on the Isle of Wight.

Openreach in talks with BT’s rivals: Openreach, BT’s network subsidiary, has started to extend its independence from its parent company by opening talks with fixed-line and mobile providers, including Vodafone, about joint investment in new ultrafast fibre-optic broadband.

The Independent

U.K. firm sells lead fuel additive to only country where it’s legal: A British company is selling lead fuel additives – banned because of their “catastrophic” effects on human health – to the last remaining country in the world where they are still legal.

Brexit: Frankfurt and Dublin set to sweep bank jobs away from U.K.: Frankfurt and Dublin are emerging as the front-runner destinations for banks choosing to relocate away from the U.K. after Brexit, a top board member at Germany’s central bank has said.

Provident Financial Boss quits as the lender cancels dividends: Provident Financial shares plummeted on Tuesday after it announced its Chief Executive Peter Crook is leaving and that it is unlikely to pay a dividend this year as the British subprime lender issued its second profit warning in two months.

World’s largest mining company to quit U.S. shale oil and gas: BHP Billiton, the world’s largest miner, reported a surge in underlying full-year profits on Tuesday and said it would exit its underperforming U.S. shale oil and gas business, pleasing disgruntled shareholders who had called for a sale.

Goldman Sachs CEO slams state of the U.S. in solar eclipse tweet: The Chief Executive of Goldman Sachs used Monday’s solar eclipse to bemoan the state of the U.S., in a tweet that many perceived to be a thinly veiled dig at President Donald Trump.

Solar panel capacity to overtake nuclear energy next year in historic landmark: Solar panel capacity is set to overtake nuclear worldwide for the first time within the next few months, according to expert predictions.

Ford scrappage scheme: Drivers can get up to £7,000 off new vehicle if they trade in old polluting model: Ford is offering drivers up to £7,000 to scrap the most polluting vehicles and replace them with new greener models in a bid to help tackle the U.K.’s air quality problem.

The Daily Telegraph

Employers’ hiring plans slow as Brexit worries weigh on recruitment: Job opportunities are diminishing, with employers’ plans to hire falling to their lowest level in a year as the economic outlook darkens.

Britain’s drug makers call for public funds to help them catch global rivals: Britain’s £60 billion life sciences sector has called on the Government to invest up to £140 million in building four drug manufacturing ‘centres of excellence’ to help move the country’s world-leading lab research on to production lines.

EU probes Bayer’s $66 billion bid to buy Monsanto: The biggest deal in the agri-chemicals market is under fresh scrutiny as the European Commission is launching an “in-depth investigation” into Bayer’s proposed $66 billion takeover of Monsanto.

British biotech strikes deal to sell cholesterol drug in the U.S.: Optibiotix Health, a Yorkshire-based life sciences business that develops medicines to combat obesity, high cholesterol and diabetes, has struck a supply deal with a U.S. manufacturer.

Tech titans such as Facebook ‘bigger threat to banks than fintech’: Amazon, Google and Facebook pose a much bigger threat to banks than financial technology start-ups despite concerns the latter are luring customers away, the World Economic Forum has warned.

Ford plugs in to China’s electric car market with joint venture: Ford has stepped up its push into electric vehicles by agreeing a joint venture in China, the world’s largest car market.

Hostelworld back in the black as holidaymakers book by app: Travel bookings website Hostelworld swung back to profit in the first half of the year, helped by more holidaymakers booking shorter trips via their mobile phones.

The Questor Column:

keep buying Card Factory as special dividends take the yield to an attractive 7.6%: A strong first-half trading update earlier this month from Card Factory reaffirmed our faith in the greetings cards, wrapping and gifts specialist and could go a long way to persuading the market that the firm can continue to churn out special dividends on top of its (still-growing) regular annual payment. In addition, management continues to roll out new stores and drive through business efficiencies and improve the customer experience. Debt is low, margins are high and cash flow is robust. As a result, Card Factory looks capable of increasing its regular annual dividend to 10p from 9p a year ago and paying a third straight annual special dividend of 15p, according to estimates from broker Peel Hunt. That would take the total to 25p, good enough for a yield of 7.6%. The shares have advanced smartly from around 240p since we first tipped them last November and further capital gains are also possible if the market becomes more confident that cash flow and the fat total dividend payout are sustainable. Questor says ‘Buy’.

Update: Aggreko: Support services firm Aggreko may be an expert in temporary power generation but investors are clearly going to have to be patient with the stock, judging by the indifference with which the market treated what looked like perfectly solid interim results earlier this month. As has become customary, the company’s ongoing contract problems in Argentina took all of the headlines as they held back sales at the power solutions arm. But rental solutions did well, a 12% fall in group pre-tax profit met expectations and the company left its interim dividend unchanged at 9.38p as efforts to sweat the balance sheet and reduce working capital hugely boosted cash flow. A forward price-to-earnings ratio of 15.1 times (depressed) earnings looks like decent value and even the yield is far from shabby at 3.1%. Aggreko’s long-term position looks good, as the global power deficit widens, and any recovery in spending across the oil and gas industry would be a further bonus. Risk-tolerant investors can continue to buy on weakness. Questor says ‘Buy’.

The Guardian

Airports call for urgent post-Brexit deal on U.K.-EU flights: Airports have joined forces to press the government to urgently strike a post-Brexit deal on flights between the U.K. and the EU, warning that the current uncertainty alone would be enough to see bookings drop by up to 41%.

Poor and overpriced funfair rides could be closed under new rules: Local authorities will be able to shut down poor and overpriced funfair rides under proposals being considered by the competition watchdog.

Former Lloyds Boss Eric Daniels sues bank for withheld bonuses: Eric Daniels, the Chief Executive of Lloyds Bank when it was bailed out with £20 billion of taxpayer money during the 2008 financial crisis, is suing the bank for hundreds of thousands of pounds in disputed bonuses.

Identity fraud reaching epidemic levels, new figures show: Identity theft has reached epidemic levels in the U.K., with incidents of this type of fraud running at almost 500 a day, according to the latest figures.

Ex-BHS owner Dominic Chappell prosecuted by pensions regulator: Dominic Chappell, the former owner of BHS, is to be prosecuted by the pensions watchdog for failing to provide information for an investigation into its sale.

Southern rail trials wheel clamping scheme in station car parks: Southern rail is to further test the patience of passengers after months of industrial action and disruption to services by trialling a new vehicle clamping regime in seven station car parks.

Provident Financial sees nearly £1.7 billion wiped off stock market value: Provident Financial has lost two-thirds of its stock market value in a day, after the doorstep lender was hit by a “quadruple whammy” of body blows.

China’s Dalian Wanda drops purchase of Nine Elms Square in London: China’s largest commercial property company has pulled out of a £470 million purchase of Nine Elms Square in south-west London after pressure from regulators in Beijing over its overseas investments.

Daily Mail

Investors place bets on a spree of gambling deals ahead of ‘potentially damning’ sector review: The FT reported that Isle of Man-based GVC Holdings, which owns Sportingbet and Foxy Bingo, recently tabled an offer of as much as £3.6 billion for Ladbrokes Coral, with the aim of creating one of the world’s largest gambling firms.

Children’s bonds to be axed at NS&I with more than 800,000 parents and grandparents left in the lurch: NS&I is axing its Children’s Bond for new savers in September. More than 800,000 parents and grandparents have £500 million in these bonds, saving for children until they reach 16.

Debenhams recovery plan wins Mike Ashley’s backing as he increases his stake in the chain by more than 20%: Mike Ashley has increased his stake in ailing Debenhams to more than 20%. A stock exchange announcement showed that Sports Direct has upped its total position in the department store chain from 19% to 21%.

Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary Expresses interest in snapping up bust German rival Air Berlin: Ryanair could be about to scoop up its bust German rival. The budget airline’s Chief Executive Michael O’Leary said he was interested in buying Air Berlin but needed more information on its finances.

EMI tycoon Guy Hands faces investor scrutiny as he asks for £2.7 billion following his disastrous takeover: Private equity tycoon Guy Hands faces tough demands on how he spends investors’ cash after his disastrous takeover of EMI. Terra Firma lost around £2 billion when it bought the record company at the start of the financial crisis.

Daily Express

Britain’s budget in surplus for the first time in 15 years with £200 million boost: Britain received more money in taxes and other income than it spent in July, putting the national finances in surplus for the first time since 2002, in a huge economic boost ahead of Brexit.

The three reasons the U.S. stock market could be about to crash: America’s top stock index the S&P 500 is on the cusp of a major market crash, many investors fear.

Germany heading for economic nightmare as confidence plunges: Confidence in Germany’s economy has fallen dramatically, as exports tumble and trouble looms over the country’s prized car industry, a top survey has revealed.

Balfour Beatty made preferred bidder by EDF Energy for Hinkley point power station: Balfour Beatty has been made preferred bidder by EDF Energy for the Hinkley point C nuclear power station tunnelling and marine works package, worth £200 million.

Grandparents gift grandchildren over £37 billion for holidays, education and first homes: The Bank of Gran and Grandad has hit new heights of generosity donating more than £37billion to help grandchildren get on in life.

The Scottish Herald

Housebuilder shares hit record high but caution urged on land: Housebuilder Persimmon saw its share price touch an all-time high as it reported a 30% bump in pre-tax profits to £457 million for the first six months of the year.

Coffee shop chain plans big push into Scotland: Northern Irish coffee shop chain Bob & Berts plans to open 20 outlets in Scotland, creating around 400 jobs, after securing £2 million of finance from the Business Growth Fund.

Cairn Energy highlights appeal of North Sea amid crude price plunge: Cairn Energy has shown its faith in the potential of the North Sea although the latest drilling off Senegal has underlined the appeal of other areas.

Export boost for U.K. manufacturing firms: U.K. manufacturers have seen a slight firming of their order books in recent weeks, as export demand has improved, a survey has shown.

Wood claims £2.2 billion takeover of engineering giant will be good for Scotland: Wood Group has given a gloomy assessment of the prospects for the embattled North Sea oil and gas industry but insisted its planned takeover of Amec Foster Wheeler will provide a boost for the Scottish economy.

The Scotsman

Lidl overtakes Waitrose as seventh-biggest supermarket: Lidl has overtaken Waitrose to become the U.K.’s seventh largest supermarket as shoppers cope with inflation by turning to the discounters, figures show.

Highlands firms on trail to boost rural internet links: Two Highlands-based companies have teamed up to bring internet access to remote locations in the area, helping projects such as windfarm sites and road construction projects.

Wood Group profits slide on Amec acquisition costs: Oil and gas services giant Wood Group reported a sharp drop in half-year profits as it counted the cost of its deal to buy rival engineer Amec Foster Wheeler.

Lar Housing Trust secures £65 million to build up portfolio: A Fife-based housing trust has secured a multimillion-pound funding package that will boost its portfolio of mid-market rental properties across Scotland.

Wholesale veteran Ian McDonald steps down from JW Filshill: One of the best-known figures in the Scottish retail and wholesale industry is stepping down after a career spanning more than 40 years.

City A.M.

British Airways summer strikes: Unite pauses cabin crew’s long-running industrial action in effort to resolve pay dispute: Unite union has called for the British Airways strike impasse to end after bumper industrial action stretching over August in a row over pay.

Tui Boss warns Brexit could take 10 years: Brexit could take as long as 10 years to fully implement, according to the Chief Executive of international travel group Tui.

India’s renewable sector is set to boom by 2030 with green energy poised to meet a quarter of total demand: India is emerging as a global leader in renewable energy as a quarter of the country’s total energy demand could be filled by renewables by 2030, according to a new report.

Chinese car firm Great Wall cools talk over its interest in Fiat Chrysler deal: Great Wall Motor has cooled talk concerning its interest in acquiring part of, or all of, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, saying it has not yet made any “concrete progress” with its interest.

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