The Times
Bonuses cut at Schroders after fall in fund inflows: Staff at Schroders have been forced to take modest cuts in their bonuses this year after a disappointing final quarter wiped the shine off forecast-beating profits at Britain’s biggest pure fund management house.
Apprentice beats master at magic of share picking: He is billed as the greatest British stockpicker of his generation. His departure from Invesco Perpetual in 2013 was seen as a serious blow to the firm that had nurtured him. How could the great Neil Woodford ever be replaced, his fans groaned as they pulled out billions of pounds of investments.
Regulator has ‘caved in’ by setting 2019 PPI deadline: The main City regulator has been accused of caving into the banks after agreeing to set a deadline for complaints about mis-sold payment protection insurance.
Results put Convatec in good health: Maiden results from Convatec, London’s biggest flotation last year, suggested that the medical devices company was in rude health and sent its shares to new highs.
Criticism ‘has eroded trust in BT brand’: BT has pledged to improve its customer service after fierce criticism of the company over allegations of rip-off charges and poor quality broadband services.
Pressure builds on Travis Perkins as homeowners sit on their hands: People not moving, people not spending on doing up their homes and the rising price of goods at the builder’s merchant have added up to another slide in the shares for Travis Perkins, the former FTSE 100 business.
Apprentice plan just a tax on business, say employers: Employers have grave concerns over the government’s apprenticeship levy, which comes into force at the start of next month, according to a survey by EEF, the manufacturers’ trade body.
AB InBev feels draught from Brazil: Profits at the world’s largest brewer slipped for the first time since Anheuser-Busch InBev’s creation more than a decade ago as sales of beer in recession-hit Brazil fell.
The Independent
Carlos Slim could run for Mexican President after Trump cost him $16 billion: On June 15, 2015, the day before Donald Trump launched his Presidential bid, Carlos Slim’s personal fortune stood at just under $67 billion.
Gustav Klimt painting sells for £48 million at Sotheby’s: Any headwinds that sectors of the U.K. economy might be weathering at the moment don’t seem to be percolating through to the world of high-end fine art.
Banks have paid $321 billion fines since financial crisis with more to come: Banks globally have paid $321 billion (£262 billion) in fines since 2008 for an abundance of regulatory failings from money laundering to market manipulation and terrorist financing, according to data from Boston Consulting Group.
Fears Quorn mince contains ‘small pieces of metal’: Quorn has recalled thousands of its vegetarian mince from supermarket shelves over fears it may contain pieces of metal.
Construction grows in February but inflation still strong: U.K. construction output remained robust in February but input cost pressures on the industry remained severe according to the latest survey snapshot of the sector.
Pound sterling to stay at record lows even after Article 50 is triggered: Economists have warned the battered pound is set to continue trading at record lows even once Prime Minister Theresa May’s government triggers official proceeding to exit the EU.
Brexit: U.K. homeowners and buyers still confident house prices will continue to rise: Brexit has not dented British homeowners’ and buyers’ confidence in the housing market despite fears that the decision to leave the EU would cause prices to collapse.
Financial Times
Caterpillar raided by Federal agents as part of tax probe: Caterpillar shares suffered their biggest one-day drop in eight months after law enforcement authorities searched the company’s headquarters and two other facilities in Illinois as part of a tax investigation.
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Kurdish protest disrupts northern Iraqi oil flows: Crude oil flows from the Kirkuk fields in northern Iraq were briefly disrupted on Thursday after a Kurdish faction seized a pumping facility in protest at the policies of Baghdad and Erbil, adding a new threat to Iraq’s attempts to comply with Opec’s agreed cuts.
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Gazprom close to revealing financing for $11 billion pipeline: Gazprom will reveal a financing package for the $11 billion gas pipeline to Germany by the end of this month as the Russian energy company seeks to draw a line under the cost of a series of political battles with European regulators.
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Watchdog finds ‘deficiencies’ in one-third of U.K. audits reviewed: U.K. auditors must step up their quality control, the country’s accounting watchdog warned as it revealed it found deficiencies in one-third of the audits it had recently reviewed.
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Sports Direct buys lingerie brand Agent Provocateur: Mike Ashley, the billionaire owner of Sports Direct, has acquired an interest in luxury lingerie brand Agent Provocateur after the maker of cuffs and corsets slipped into insolvency.
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Roche boosted by breast cancer study showing fall in deaths: Swiss drugmaker Roche had a boost from a study that showed a cocktail of drugs had cut deaths from an aggressive form of early breast cancer.
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Corporate buyer Melrose Industries on hunt for more deals: Melrose Industries is on the lookout for more deals after early signs of progress with its latest acquisition drove a double-digit surge in its share price on Thursday.
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LafargeHolcim admits to ‘unacceptable’ activity in Syria: The company said an internal investigation found evidence that Lafarge’s Syrian unit had paid third parties to work out arrangements with armed groups, including “sanctioned parties”, in order to maintain operations at the cement factory in 2013 and 2014.
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Murdoch’s speech aims to win over opponents to Sky takeover: James Murdoch launched a charm offensive to win over potential opponents to 21st Century Fox’s attempt to seize full control of media group Sky as he prepares to ask European Commission regulators to formally approve the £11.7 billion deal.
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Lyft seeks $500 million which would value transport group above $6 billion: Uber’s U.S. rival Lyft is seeking $500 million in a new fundraising round to provide fresh ammunition as the transportation company takes its fight with Uber to a growing number of U.S. cities, according to two people close to the process.
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MTN posts first ever loss after Nigerian fine: South Africa’s MTN, the biggest African mobile phone group, posted its first ever annual loss after growth ground to a halt in its largest markets and a fine paid to the Nigerian government wiped a third off its earnings.
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Lex:
Snap: unleash the unicorns: The messaging app is a heady brew. The opening $24 share price valued the company at $28 billion, or a whopping $34 billion on a diluted basis, 70 times last year’s revenues. New shareholders have chosen to take the glass-half-full approach to its average revenue per user, which is not only lower than Facebook at its 2012 IPO but also lower than Twitter’s in 2013. They have also opted to believe the company’s spin that the last quarter’s slowing user growth was a blip.
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American Express: mettle fatigue: On Thursday, beleaguered American Express launched the latest salvo in the elite credit card war. Its flagship Platinum card will see its annual service fee jump from $450 to $550. In exchange, it will offer holders a few more perks including $200 of free Uber rides. The revamp responds to the remarkable inroads JPMorgan’s Chase Sapphire card has made in the last year with its hundreds of dollars of free travel benefits.
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Capita: decapitated: U.K. outsourcers once promoted their versatility — from running prisons to TV licence fee collecting — as proof of all-round competence. These jacks of all trades are dangerously close to appearing masters of none. Profits, shares and Bosses have tumbled at all of them. Capita is the latest to succumb. Earnings have fallen. Chief Executive Andy Parker is leaving.
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Lombard:
Cobham’s flying circus needs a glide path for debt: With the animated duo’s real-life counterparts announcing a $54 billion increase in U.S. defence spending, it is hard to see how mid-air refuelling could have got harder. But the successor to Sir Alan’s company thinks it has. Problems with Cobham’s U.S. Air Force KC-46 tanker contract led the FTSE 250 group to announce a £150 million charge last month, £574 million of non-cash impairments and a profit warning — its fifth in 15 months. On Thursday, alongside a 32% hit to operating profit, Cobham also launched a £500 million rescue rights issue — its second in nine months.
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Smelling of (Mel)roses: It is notable, then, that Melrose — often deemed private equity lite, for its “buy, improve, sell” strategy — has just enjoyed an 10.5% share price rise after reporting on another lean deal. Last year, it bought Nortek, a U.S. maker of cooker hoods, for £2.2 billion, and has already improved its margin by 4 percentage points, lifting operating profit by 35%. Melrose’s debt load, however, remains at 1.9 times earnings — well below the 3-5 times taken on by hungrier private rivals. However, while healthier in many respects, the group’s recipe may not be quite to contemporary tastes.
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The Daily Telegraph
Glencore paid $100 million to Dan Gertler in Congo deals: Glencore paid at least $100 million (£81 million) to controversial Israeli billionaire Dan Gertler over the course of four years, it has emerged, in the latest revelations surrounding its activities in the Congo.
Spire Healthcare on track after hospital group suffers turbulent year: Spire Healthcare’s focus this year will be on addressing the problems at one of its main hospitals, which has held back the company’s growth, its Boss has said.
AB InBev to squeeze even more drops out of SABMiller deal: Beer goliath Anheuser-Busch InBev will squeeze an extra $350 million (£285 million) in cost savings from its £79 billion takeover of rival SABMiller.
Rio Tinto defers bonus to former Boss in wake of Guinea bribery investigation: Mining group Rio Tinto has withheld bonus payments to its former Boss while it conducts an investigation into allegations of bribery in Guinea.
Rethink ‘disastrous’ business rates, says Boss of Alton Towers owner Merlin: The Government must rethink “disastrous” rises in business rates before next week’s Budget, the Boss of Alton Towers owner Merlin Entertainments has said.
Eurozone inflation rises above target for first time in four years: Eurozone inflation hit 2% in February, amid a jump in food and energy costs that pushed the headline rate above the European Central Bank’s target for the first time in more than four years.
The Questor Column:
An easy way for British investors to buy Amazon shares – at a 21% discount: The Manchester & London trust is far smaller than Scottish Mortgage (it has a market value of about £66 million, against the latter’s £4.7 billion) but shares its liking for American technology giants. Both have stakes in Amazon, for example: M&L has 7.6% of its money in the online retailer, which is its second-largest holding; for Scottish Mortgage the figure is 9.9% and Amazon is the No 1 holding. Facebook and Alphabet, Google’s parent company, also feature in the top 10 holdings of both trusts. Overall Scottish Mortgage has 18.8% of its assets in China, whereas M&L’s exposure is minimal at 1%. One quirk is that the manager owns more than 60% of the trust’s shares, which Winterflood said represented “a strong alignment of interest” with other investors. Questor says ‘Buy’.
Update: Alliance Trust: Shareholders in the venerable trust have approved proposals to outsource portfolio management and repurchase the stake held by Alliance’s largest shareholder, Elliott Advisors. However, Questor maintains its sell rating on the shares, believing that investors would be better off with the proven approach of Witan, another global trust. Questor says ‘Sell, Buy Witan’.
The Guardian
Snapchat shares soar 44% to value loss-making company at $28 billion: Snap Inc, the company behind disappearing messaging app Snapchat, has gone public with stocks soaring 44% on their first day of trading and valuing the company at $28 billion.
Brexit without trade deal would open Pandora’s box, says CBI Chief: Plunging out of the European Union in two years without a new trade deal would open up a Pandora’s box for Britain’s businesses, Paul Drechsler, the President of CBI, has warned.
Home ownership in England at a 30-year low, official figures show: Home ownership in England has fallen to its lowest level for 30 years, while the number of people privately renting is now higher than in the early 1960s, according to official figures.
IFS: Growth in U.K. living standards worst in 60 years: Britain is in the midst of the weakest growth in living standards in at least 60 years, with low income families faring the worst, a leading thinktank has warned.
Asda imposes harsher terms on suppliers after pound’s Brexit slide: Asda, Britain’s third largest supermarket chain and owner of the George brand, is imposing harsher payment terms on its clothing suppliers as it attempts to turn the business around.
Shale gas firm Cuadrilla brands anti-fracking activists ‘irresponsible’: The Chief Executive of Cuadrilla, a leading fracking company, has complained at what he calls intimidation and harassment by “irresponsible” activists protesting at a shale gas site the firm is constructing in Lancashire.
Daily Mail
Price comparison website Gocompare sees profits soar by almost a third: Price comparison website Gocompare has bolstered profits by close to a third and said it could enjoy an uplift from changes to the insurance industry.
Visitors finally return to Merlin’s theme parks following the tragic Alton Towers accident in 2015: AltonTowers owner Merlin Entertainments said visitors were returning to the crisis-hit attraction, but would not reach pre-accident levels until 2018.
Jimmy Choo’s jewel encrusted shoes and luxury trainers have sales on the quick march: Jewel-encrusted shoes and luxury trainers drove sales at British shoemaker Jimmy Choo. It saw revenue jump 14.5% in the year to December 31, also helped by strong sales of men’s shoes and a boost from Brexit-hit pound.
Ailing aviation pioneer Cobham pleads to shareholders for £500 million help in desperate bid to end losses: Struggling engineering giant Cobham is turning to long-suffering shareholders to end spiralling losses. The air-to-air refuelling pioneer announced a rights issue of £500million as it revealed a 30% slide in profits.
Try on while your delivery man waits: Online fashion giant Yoox Net-A-Porter considers U.K. ‘butler service’: Wealthy U.K. shoppers could soon try on designer clothes while the delivery man waits. Online fashion giant Yoox Net-a-Porter offers the ‘butler service’ to rich fashionistas in China, and is considering launching in the U.K.
Daily Express
Winners and losers of Bank of England’s money-printing programme: Savers have been among the biggest losers of the Bank of England’s money policies over the past eight years, while riskier investors have reaped huge rewards, analysis has revealed.
Rotolight makes light work for photographers, filmmakers and broadcasters: New equipment that lightens the load for photographers, filmmakers and broadcasters has given its U.K. manufacturer a starring role on shoots from blockbuster movies like Star Trek and Skyfall to wedding videos.
Budget 2017: Stamp duty and pension changes predicted in Philip Hammond’s speech: Chancellor Philip Hammond will present his first Spring Budget on March 8 and lay out his financial plans for the country, as the U.K. gears up for Brexit.
Pensions boosted by record stock markets but savers cautioned: Pension savers are set to see the value of retirement funds jump after stock markets hit fresh record highs this week.
Dollar soars against pound as U.S. forecast to hike interest rates in March: The dollar has soared against the pound, amid a boost from Donald Trump and expectations U.S. interest rates will again be hiked this month.
ITV Boss vows to go on attack to boost worldwide audience: ITV Boss Adam Crozier has vowed to pursue more content deals to boost its worldwide audience and lessen its reliance on advertising revenue.
The Scottish Herald
Engineering sector flags export surge: Engineering companies in Scotland have achieved a surge in order intake in the latest quarter, with export business boosted by sterling’s weakness following the Brexit vote, a key industry survey shows.
IndigoVision raises propect it may hire more engineers: Indigovision Chief Executive Marcus Kneen has said the video security firm expects to expand its engineering workforce in Scotland this year as it feels the benefit of action take to address tough market conditions.
Scottish organic farmers benefit from high prices: The Scottish Organic Producers Association (SOPA) is encouraging those who are considering making the switch to organic to do the sums, as all organic commodities currently have premiums.
Glasgow law firm in merger deal with city peer: Venerable Glasgow law firm Mitchells Roberton has merged with city solicitors Adie Hunter.
Nairn’s opens £6.5 million gluten-free factory: Biscuit manufacturer Nairn’s Oatcakes has started production at a £6.5 million gluten-free manufacturing operation.
Timber firm grows pre-tax profit: Scottish Woodlands, the forest management to timber sales firm, has lifted pre-tax profits by 36% to £1.2 million ahead of expectation.
Record fees for law firm Gillespie Macandrew: Law firm Gillespie Macandrew has reported an unaudited record £11.36 million in feeing for the year to 28 February 2017, one year after breaking through the £10 million barrier.
Fourth dividend for Alliance: Alliance Trust has declared a fourth interim dividend, of 3.274p, for the year ended December 31. It means the total dividends paid or declared for the year by the Dundee trust will be 16.4% over the ordinary dividend paid in 2015. Shareholders this week voted in favour of a switch to a multi-manager approach to running the £3.3 billion portfolio.
Border Biscuits set for television: Derek Griffiths, a former star of children’s television favourite Play School has been recruited by Border Biscuits to voice its new television advert, which follows an animated family of ‘Border Biscuitiers’. The advert is the second phase of national advertising for the brand, which also saw new packaging and enhancements at its Lanark factory.
The Scotsman
Scotch whisky trade body appoints first female Chief: The Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) has appointed the first woman to hold the post of Chief Executive in its 105-year history.
Lufthansa doubles growth on Scottish routes: The Lufthansa airline group doubled its growth in Scotland to 4% last year compared to 2015, the German carrier announced
Battery technology firm Dukosi receives £2 million boost: Dukosi, an Edinburgh-based specialist in battery management systems for electric vehicles and energy storage, has secured £2 million in funding to develop its technology.
Nova tidal energy project receives European backing: A European consortium, led by Edinburgh-based tidal energy firm Nova Innovation, has secured €4.4 million (£3.8 million) in funding to help towards commercialising technology designed to significantly cut the costs of generating energy from the sea.
Plexus ‘encouraged’ after landing new well customer: Plexus Holdings, the Aberdeen-based oil and gas technology firm, has secured a new customer in the form of Nexen Petroleum.
Brexit could be hurdle to Scots FinTech firms’ expansion: Brexit could negatively impact Scotland’s growing FinTech sector unless EU passporting rights are continued, an industry report has warned.
City A.M.
British private sector growth picks up as the U.K. consumer’s strong form continues: Private sector growth picked up in February as services geared towards consumers continued to impress, according to a survey of British companies.
Theresa May’s industrial strategy has come under fire from an influential committee of MPs: Prime Minister Theresa May’s flagship industrial strategy runs the risk of failure without more long-term planning, an influential committee of MPs has warned.
International firms continue bringing overseas talent to the U.K. despite Brexit doubts: Global companies have continued to move highly-skilled overseas workers to the U.K. despite uncertainty following the Brexit vote, according to law firm Pinsent Masons.
Football Pools sale: Sportech agrees £83 million deal with Opcapita: The iconic Football Pools has been sold to the turnaround firm that counts former retailers such Comet and MFI as previous investments in a deal worth £83 million.
Hastings takes £20 million discount rate hit but pleases shareholders with preserved dividend: Insurer Hastings said it wouldn’t be taking the knife to its dividend, despite this week’s cut to the discount rate that has hit many in the sector.
French energy giant Engie’s shares rise on a positive outlook to its turnaround plan: France’s Engie booked a multi-million euro writedown due to low power prices and high nuclear costs, but investors remain confident in the firm’s overhaul strategy.
