The Times
Fear of new debt bubble as household borrowing soars: Households are borrowing more than £1 billion each month to finance new cars, holidays and big-ticket consumer items in a spending splurge that economists warn could fuel another dangerous debt bubble.
Bank goes to war with Europe over bonuses: The Bank of England has defied the European financial regulator and insisted that it will not impose bonus restrictions on senior figures at fund Managers and small stockbrokers, banks and building societies.
Genel’s stock slides after Kurdish oilfield setback: Nearly £130 million was wiped off the value of Genel after the oil producer said that its biggest field in Iraq contained that only about half its previously estimated amount of oil.
HSBC ‘will be next big dividend to fall’: One of the biggest dividend payers in the FTSE 100 will have to signal a cut within six months, according to a research note that described HSBC’s results last week as “quite dreadful”.
Oil rout pushes Saudi foreign reserves to four-year low: Saudi Arabia’s foreign reserves plunged by $115 billion last year to touch their lowest level in four years as the kingdom’s finances were buffeted by the sliding price of crude, according to central bank figures.
Mortgage approvals hit a two-year high: British mortgage approvals jumped to the highest level in two years in January in a sign that would-be landlords are rushing to avoid the extra 3% stamp duty on buy-to-let properties and second homes that comes into effect in April.
New day, new start as Trinity Mirror profits tumble: Trinity Mirror marked its launch of the first national newspaper in three decades with a sharp decline in revenues and profits across its other publications.
Return to deflation puts pressure on ECB: New stimulus measures from the European Central Bank to tackle falling prices and boost growth were all but guaranteed when deflation returned to the Eurozone for the first time since September.
The Independent
PPI: Company behind 46 million nuisance calls hit with record £350,000 fine: A company that bombarded members of the public with more than 46 million automated nuisance calls has been hit with a record £350,000 fine in a crackdown against Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) mis-selling claims.
Paddy Power admits it told staff to encourage a possible gambling addict to keep gambling: Paddy Power has agreed to pay £280,000 to good causes after a Gambling Commission investigation found serious failings in its anti-money laundering and social responsibility processes.
Argentina makes peace with vulture funds after 14 years: Argentina has reached a $4.65 billion (£3.34 billion) agreement in principle to settle a long-running battle with so-called vulture funds dating back to its debt default 14 years ago.
Financial Times
Mitie criticised for ‘insanitary’ immigration centre: Mitie, the U.K. outsourcing group, came under fire for its management of the biggest immigration detention centre in Europe on Tuesday, after the prison inspectorate said the facilities were “dirty”, “rundown” and “insanitary”.
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Keller says U.S. economy on firm foundation: Keller, the U.K. engineering group, has reported an 8% rise in annual profit despite a 2% drop in sales — and said fears over the outlook for the U.S. economy are overdone.
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Record fine for company that made 46 million cold calls: A spam-calling company that made more than 46 million nuisance calls has been hit with a record fine from the data-protection watchdog.
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U.K. declines to extend EU bonus cap rules: The U.K. has told the Brussels’ financial watchdog it will not comply with EU rules that would force the bonus cap that applies to the big banks on more than 1,000 smaller financial institutions across the City of London.
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Powa staff warned on giving intellectual property to ex-Bosses: The administrators of Powa Technologies, the U.K. mobile commerce company once valued at $2.7 billion, told staff not to pass intellectual property to former management, according to a letter seen by the Financial Times.
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AstraZeneca agrees licensing deal for Plendil in China: AstraZeneca has struck a $500 million deal to sell the marketing rights for two heart drugs, in the latest example of the U.K. pharmaceuticals group using licensing agreements to boost flagging revenues.
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Hiscox tells investors to expect lower cash returns: Hiscox has warned investors to expect lower cash returns in future as the insurer injects money into its retail insurance businesses.
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ExxonMobil sells $12 billion of bonds amid rise in borrowings: ExxonMobil on Monday sold $12 billion of bonds, its biggest such offering, even as the oil and gas sector has been roiled by a precipitous drop in crude prices this year.
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Valeant shares tumble amid fresh investigation: Valeant’s shares tumbled 18% on Monday afternoon, after the drug company revealed it was being investigated by the U.S. securities regulator, capping two days of dramatic announcements that have reignited fears over the Canadian drugmaker’s future.
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Walgreens looks to cut ties with Theranos: Walgreens, the U.S. pharmacy chain, is seeking ways to terminate its relationship with Theranos after growing impatient with the blood-testing start-up’s mounting regulatory woes, according to people familiar with the matter.
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Lex:
Sterling: venting on vol: Currency speculation gives no prizes for love of country. Should Britain vote to leave the EU, even the most patriotic Brit should run screaming from the pound. Whether through lower trade, a freeze in foreign investment, or the uncertain position of the City, severing links with the EU removes a reason to hold sterling.
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Japanese banks: taking the positives: Japan has 47 prefectures and 105 regional banks. Two banks per prefecture is one too many in a country where the population is shrinking and growth is anaemic. The competition is slowly compressing margins. Average profit was 6% lower in the year to March 2015 than it was five years before.
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Rocket Internet: seeking escape velocity: When Rocket Internet floated in 2014, its shares looked on course for the moon. Now, they are stuck in the investment equivalent of geostationary orbit at about half their IPO price. A third of the free float is sold short, according to Markit.
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Lombard:
Kurdled: Oil has slumped leaving Kurdish explorer Genel Energy to complete the damage by slashing estimates of crude in the ground at its Taq Taq field. The uncertainty discount was already a big one.
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The newslesspaper: Trinity Mirror, which has launched a new newspaper, appears less deluded than it would have a few years ago. The run-off rate for old technologies is slower than digital prophets predicted. Printed books, “dumb” phones and vinyl records have been enjoying modest resurgences.
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The Daily Telegraph
Mervyn King: central banks must act like modern day pawnbrokers: Central banks must behave more like “pawnbrokers” to stamp out recklessness and put an end to taxpayer-backed bail-outs, according to the former Bank of England Governor.
NYSE Owner may bid for LSE and gatecrash £20 billion merger: London Stock Exchange’s £20 billion merger with Deutsche Boerse could be gatecrashed by the Owner of the New York Stock Exchange, according to reports.
Fastjet hit by easyJet Founder revolt: EasyJet entrepreneur Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou has warned that Fastjet, the loss-making African airline he co-founded, faces a cash crisis and launched a rebellion to oust its Chief Executive because he has “lost faith” in the management team.
Oil drilling can go ahead near Belfast reservoir, says NI Water: Northern Ireland’s sole water utility has given the green light for onshore oil exploration to take place next to a key reservoir that supplies 130,000 people in Belfast and its surrounding areas.
Brazil challenges and commodities slump weigh on outsourcer Bunzl: International distribution and outsourcing company Bunzl reported a 6% rise in pretax profit last year, despite “challenging” conditions in key international markets including Brazil.
WH Ireland slips to loss after £1.2 million fine: Troubled stockbroker WH Ireland made a pretax loss of £300,000 in 2015, as a £1.2 million fine from the City regulator more than wiped out its profits.
The Guardian
ECB under mounting pressure to step up Eurozone support: The European Central Bank is under growing pressure to step up support for the Eurozone’s flagging economy after the bloc slipped back into negative inflation in February.
Small financial firms will escape EU bonus cap, says Bank of England: More than 1,000 fund Managers, hedge funds, brokers and smaller banks will be exempt from the EU’s bonus cap after the Bank of England said it had concluded they did not fall within the scope of the rules.
China’s central bank attempts to boost economy with cash injection: China’s central bank has stepped up action to bolster its cooling economy by loosening the rules on banks’ cash reserves in the hope that they will offer cheaper loans.
Daily Mail
Brexit could send the pound tumbling to ‘parity’ with the euro, warns Swiss banking giant UBS: Sterling could fall to ‘parity’ with the euro if Britain votes to leave the European Union, according to a report.
Levi’s let you recycle old jeans and get a 10% off a new pair (but that’s still only half the 20% discount Americans enjoy): Levi’s has embarked on an initiative to get shoppers back in their stores by letting them recycle their old jeans and get a discount on a new pair.
Claims firm Slater & Gordon takes £500 million loss and sees shares halve: Shares in claims handlers Slater & Gordon almost halved after it posted £500 million losses following huge write-downs on its U.K. business Quindell.
Bonuses rocket at fund giant Jupiter after it defied last year’s stock market turmoil with rising profits and strong performance: Staff at fund giant Jupiter received average bonuses of just under £150,000 last year as it cashed in despite the stock market turmoil, writes James Salmon.
Daily Express
Amazon signs up deal with Morrisons to deliver groceries: Online giant Amazon is set to turn up the heat in Britain’s fiercely competitive grocery market after striking a fresh food supply deal with Morrisons.
Death of the high street: 1 million retail jobs set to go by 2025: Almost one million retail jobs are set to vanish by 2025, as yet more shops close and machines replace people, experts have warned.
Global economic meltdown: European markets tumble amid fears over China slowdown: Britain’s top stock market plunged into the red as fears over a global financial crisis, China’s slowdown and low growth returned to haunt investors.
Time is running out to protect your pension pot, entrepreneurs warned: Business Owners are being warned to protect their pensions ahead of possible changes planned by the Treasury.
The Scottish Herald
Business leader says Brexit warnings are misguided: The leader of one of Scotland’s most successful international businesses has said a U.K. exit from the EU would make little difference to his company, and business leader warnings are “over the top”.
Venerable Glasgow law firm eyes growth after merger deal: Two Glasgow-based law firms are aiming for growth in staff numbers and fee income after unveiling a merger, as the process of consolidation in the legal profession continues.
Scottish Woodlands highlights strength of forestry sector: Scottish Woodlands, the forest management to timber sales firm, has suffered a16% fall in profits which the company said reflected the impact of the strong pound.
Glasgow and Edinburgh hotel sectors perform well but less than half of rooms filled in Aberdeen: The hotel sectors in Glasgow and Edinburgh enjoyed a “robust” start to 2016, but less than half of rooms in Aberdeen were filled in January, a survey has shown.
Edinburgh company to supply body-worn video technology to Police Service of Northern Ireland: Edinburgh-based company Edesix has been appointed to provide body-worn video technology to the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).
Soup-maker Baxters posts after-tax loss but hails benefits of acquisition as turnover surges: Scottish food manufacturer Baxters has posted an after-tax loss of £379,000 for its last financial year, after £5.5 million of exceptional costs relating mainly to restructuring.
The Scotsman
Barclays ‘evaluates’ African business amid sale speculation: Banking giant Barclays said its African business is being “evaluated” amid mounting speculation it is pulling out of the region.
MoD police probe over 200 serious crimes at Faslane nuclear base: Hundreds of crimes, including serious fraud and sex assaults, have been investigated at Scotland’s naval base on the Clyde.
BPI unwraps seventh year of rising profits: Packaging firm British Polythene Industries (BPI) said it had made a good start to its new financial year as it posted a 7% rise in annual earnings.
Delly Innes takes up the reins at Scottish Racing: The body that promotes horseracing in Scotland has appointed a new Manager.
City A.M.
U.K. household spending growth slows for fourth month in a row in January, Asda income tracker shows: U.K. households enjoyed a double digit rise in their weekly spending power in January, despite growth slowing for the fourth month in a row.
Economy shrugs off market jitters to keep up steady growth: The U.K.’s economic growth held up in February in the wake of stock market turmoil and global growth concerns. New survey data published this morning by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) suggests growth picked up in the three months to February compared with the three months to January.
Advertised job openings cool off as retailers and factories cut back: Growth in the number of new job vacancies slowed in January. Available job openings rose 13.3% from the same month last year, according to the data published by jobs site Adzuna this morning.
Budget 2016: The AA pleads with Chancellor George Osborne not to hit motorists by hiking insurance premium tax or fuel duty: Motoring insurer and breakdown cover provider AA has revealed that it has written to Chancellor George Osborne to ask him not to hike insurance premium tax or fuel duty in next month’s Budget.
Workday share price down in after-hours trading as software company reports widening losses despite surge in revenues: Share price in Workday fell in after-hours trading this evening as losses grew for the software company despite a surge in revenues.
Transferwise set for second round of fresh funding as expansion continues: Online money transfer service Transferwise is closing in on a new round of funding, just 12 months after a $58 million raising led by U.S. venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.
Yahoo share price rises 3% as internet group files 2015 results: Shares in online firm Yahoo have risen by over 3%, after the company revealed more details about plans to cut around 15% of its workforce.
Twitter files its annual report after a rough year: monthly active users stagnate as head count remains stubbornly high: Twitter has missed its own targets for a reduction in its head count as it struggles with stagnant user growth and stalling revenue.
Icahn Enterprises share price rises despite widening losses and falling revenues for the full year ended December 2015: Share price in Icahn Enterprises rose despite the company revealing that its revenues had fallen and its losses widen
