The Times
Deutsche Bank paid U.S. hedge fund $6 billion in ‘fat finger’ error: Deutsche Bank paid $6 billion to an American hedge fund client by mistake in a “fat finger” trade on its foreign exchange desk this summer.
Asda fights back in supermarket wars: The supermarket price war grew even more intense when Asda unveiled a new plan to revive its fortunes. Only weeks after reporting the worst sales performance in its 50-year history, the Walmart-owned retailer said that it would plough more cash into cutting prices as it seeks to stem the flow of sales to its rivals.
Buy-to-let crackdown ‘will raise rents’: Plans to cut tax relief for buy-to-let investors will push up rents and harm tenants more than landlords, mortgage lenders are warning. In July, George Osborne unexpectedly announced that he would be restricting mortgage interest relief for buy-to-let landlords to the basic rate of tax, 20%, in a move to be phased in over four years from 2017.
Softcat’s float set to leave founder and investors purring: One of Britain’s lesser-known technology success stories is to list in London with a value at £500 million, which will result in a payout of millions for its founder and management team.
ITV snaps up Ulster channels for £100 million: One of the few remaining pieces of the regional independent television network has been snapped up by ITV, which has paid £100 million to buy the UTV channels in Northern Ireland.
HSBC ‘could move base to Düsseldorf’: The Chairman of HSBC’s German division has said that the bank could move its European headquarters from London to Düsseldorf if Britain votes to leave the European Union.
Beamly up, Coty, the deal’s done: The Owner of Rimmel has made an unusual foray into the world of digital marketing after acquiring a British business set up by one of the architects of the BBC iPlayer. Coty, which is on the cusp of closing a $15 billion deal to buy Procter & Gamble’s beauty brands including Max Factor and Wella shampoo, has made a side step to buy Beamly which describes itself as a social network specifically for television. It has not divulged the sale price but it is not believed to be a substantial amount.
One in the eye for Shire after setback: America’s drug regulator has refused to approve a medicine for dry eye disease made by Shire, dealing a blow to the Irish drug maker’s hopes of generating sales of more than $1 billion.
The force is with Hasbro on earnings: Merchandising tie-ins with two of the world’s biggest film franchises – Star Wars and Jurassic Park – have helped Hasbro to deliver better-than-expected earnings, but revenue fell short of forecasts.
Penny-pinching is made official policy in Ireland: The old adage about looking after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves is about to become much harder for shoppers in Ireland as the country’s central bank moves to get rid of all one and two cent coins.
Alibaba helps Britain sell tea to China: It takes some front for a British company to pitch up and try to sell tea in China, the world’s largest exporter of the product. Yet that is exactly what J Sainsbury’s is doing after signing up with Alibaba to try and crack the market.
The Independent
Hundreds of renewable energy companies could be forced out of business due to ‘dramatic’ subsidy cuts: Hundreds of green energy companies could be forced out of business in months with the loss of tens of thousands of jobs as the Government appears determined to pull the plug on renewable energy, industry leaders have warned.
Amazon fake reviews came from Bangladesh, China, the Philippines and the U.K., investigation finds: Amazon is suing more than 1,000 reviewers for selling fake review writing services through Fiverr.com, an online marketplace for freelance writers. Such writers signed up to the site to advertise that they would write positive reviews of products and books for cash, skewing the ratings system that Amazon relies on..
Balmain x H&M: why the high fashion brand wants to be on the high street: A one-off collaboration between the Parisian fashion house Balmain and the high street retailer H&M will hit the stores on November 5.
Facebook to warn users if their account is hacked by a government: Facebook will start sending notifications to people that it believes have had their accounts hacked by governments.
High-street shops facing huge jump in business taxes next April: High-street retailers are set to be hit with a 17.2% jump in business rates bills as the amount paid by stores and chains breaks through the £8 billion-a-year barrier for the first time, according to industry experts.
Resurgent banking lobby sets regulatory alarm bells ringing: Concern is mounting over the growing influence of banking lobbyists over the direction of financial regulation, as George Osborne implements his so-called “new settlement” with the City of London.
McDonald’s is facing a ‘deep depression’ and could be in its ‘final days’, say U.S. franchise Owners: In an attempt to shore up a slump, McDonald’s introduced all-day breakfasts in its U.S. stores, part of CEO Steve Easterbrook’s ‘turnaround plan’ which also included digital ordering kiosks and other new menu items.
Financial Times
China to take one-third stake in Hinkley nuclear project: China is to take a one-third stake in a French-led project to build the first in a new generation of U.K. nuclear power plants, investing billions of pounds under a landmark commercial deal to be announced on Wednesday.
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/d96226f2-76a7-11e5-a95a-27d368e1ddf7.html#axzz3p4gd2prQ
Chinese back Welsh power schemes to tune of ‘£2 billion’: The latest large Chinese-backed project in the U.K. is a green power station in Wales with the excess heat being used to grow thousands of tonnes of prawns, fish and salad leaves. The scheme to turn disused industrial sites at Anglesey and Port Talbot into two “eco parks” has attracted £2 billion of Chinese money, say the developers.
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/e7509a26-7640-11e5-933d-efcdc3c11c89.html#axzz3p4gd2prQ
RBS at the sharp end in High Court litigation: Solicitors and barristers crammed into the High Court this month to hear the latest claims against Royal Bank of Scotland in what is shaping up as one of the most expensive lawsuits in U.K. history.
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/10d140c4-6c2a-11e5-8171-ba1968cf791a.html#axzz3p4gd2prQ
Lex:
Danone: milking it: Danone has bet on emerging markets as enthusiastically as any rival. Its businesses in Brazil, China and Russia have won the prizes, and endured the pain, to show it. How sweet, then, that on Monday — as China confirmed its slower growth — the French dairy group should release better than expected third-quarter sales boosted by strong demand for a core product in China. Danone has milked Chinese parents’ preference for premium imported baby formula since the country’s milk safety scandals. Global like-for-like sales of “early life nutrition” rose almost 11%, driven by online purchases in China.
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/3/f97eea6e-766c-11e5-a95a-27d368e1ddf7.html#axzz3p4gd2prQ
Morgan Stanley: that’s life: For all of James Gorman’s efforts, the bank’s earnings remain surprisingly vulnerable to risky bond and currencies trading and, apparently, private equity. Mr Gorman did not downplay the disappointment, calling the fixed income performance the worst since the financial crisis. But his own credibility has taken a hit. He has somehow managed to reduce Morgan Stanley’s earnings power while, it seems, much of the volatility of those earnings remains. Mr Gorman must hope shareholders will show more patience for his strategy than he showed for his restive troops.
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/3/27f1d2fe-7676-11e5-933d-efcdc3c11c89.html#axzz3p4gd2prQ
Deutsche Bank: third priority: “The Supervisory Board’s guiding principle was to reduce complexity to better meet client demands and requirements of supervisory authorities.” Reading those words – from the top of Deutsche Bank’s announcement of an organizational reshuffle – investors in the bank might wonder how the board managed to forget them. Clients and regulators are important. But they do not own the place. Those who do, get their first mention on page four.
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/3/d8cb2e7e-7633-11e5-a95a-27d368e1ddf7.html#axzz3p4gd2prQ
Lombard:
Spot of housekeeping defends ITV against sliding audience numbers: Mopping up UTV Media’s gogglebox business in Ireland is about keeping ITV clean and tidy, rather than setting the stage for a new drama. More downstairs than upstairs at Downtown Abbey.
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/a98daca0-765a-11e5-a95a-27d368e1ddf7.html#axzz3p4gd2prQ
Neds and their stakes: Nat Rothschild, graduate with MSc in addiction studies from Kings College and the financier who co-founded Asia Resource Minerals (Bumi as was), has become a non-executive Director of Volex, the Aim-listed maker of power cords and cables. He has owned a quarter of the company for about seven years. Mr Rothschild was once likened in this column to Captain Ahab in his single-minded pursuit of his quarry.
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/a98daca0-765a-11e5-a95a-27d368e1ddf7.html#axzz3p4gd2prQ
What changed?: Put asset Managers in charge of asset management. It is a good thesis for Deutsche Bank’s fund management arm, which has been mismanaged by investment bankers for too long. So now Deutsche has sprung Quintin Price from his retirement from Black Rock to become its investment Boss.
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/a98daca0-765a-11e5-a95a-27d368e1ddf7.html#axzz3p4gd2prQ
The Daily Telegraph
Bank of England Governor Mark Carney to intervene in Brexit debate: The Governor of the Bank of England is to make a speech on the subject on Wednesday in what could prove to be one of the most crucial developments to date in the looming referendum campaign.
David Cameron hires Alibaba founder Jack Ma to advise him on business: The announcement came the day before a four-day state visit to Britain by Chinese President Xi Jinping and as Britain seeks to boost its business ties with the world’s second-largest economy.
Act now to dodge another boom and bust property catastrophe, Bank of England warns: The terrible damage wrought on property investors and the construction market could be avoided in future if the commercial property sector properly understood the business cycle, rather than getting caught up in exuberance every time, according to top Bank of England official Alex Brazier.
Barclays settles $325 million legal battle over crisis-era mortgage securities: The bank’s settlement with the U.S. National Credit Union Administration ends a civil lawsuit that has rumbled on for more than three years.
Small firms hope for banks’ stranglehold to be smashed open: The Competition and Markets Authority could force banks to make it easier for small firms to jump ship if they are unhappy with their service or can get a better deal elsewhere.
Morgan Stanley profits plunge amid difficult trading conditions: Profits at Morgan Stanley plunged 42% to below $1 billion in the third quarter as the U.S. investment bank’s main businesses took a tumble amid poor trading conditions.
U.K. grocery sector seeing its first ‘green shoots of recovery’: Food retailing firms experiencing “significant” financial distress fell by 5% to 5,002 firms over the past three months, figures from the Begbies Traynor Red Flag Alert for the third quarter showed. This was the first decline since the second quarter of 2013.
First-time buyer demand boosts house prices to record highs: Rightmove says that asking prices hit a new record high in October. Average asking prices rose to £296,549 in October, 5.6% higher than they were a year ago. Especially strong demand from first-time buyers has seen the price of properties bought by those getting on the housing ladder jump by close to 10% in the period.
Oprah Winfrey buys 10% stake in Weight Watchers: Shares in Weight Watchers leapt 81.6% after it was revealed the talk show host is buying a 10% stake in the business.
Ireland to scrap 1 and 2 cent coins: The Bank of Ireland announced that all cash transactions would be rounded up or down to the nearest 5 cents as it begins phasing out smaller coins after 28 October.
U.K. consumer confidence climbs to its highest level in at least four years: Britons were more upbeat about their finances in the three months to September than at any time since records began in 2011, according to Deloitte’s latest consumer tracker.
London to host more renminbi trading after CME signs deal with China Construction Bank: The Chicago Mercantile Exchange has announced a trading tie-up with China Construction Bank, the first of a throng of corporate deals between London firms and their Chinese counterparts to coincide with President Xi Jinping’s state visit.
Iran calls to slash oil output as OPEC nurses price slump wounds: Iran’s oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh has called on OPEC to get crude prices back up to $70 a barrel.
The Questor Column:
Oxford Instruments struggles with slowdown: Oxford Instruments, the nanotechnology specialist, has endured a bruising year so far. Two profit warnings in the past 10 months have caused the shares to more than halve in value. High debt levels and a difficult trading outlook mean we advise steering clear of the stock. Oxford Instruments’ shares slumped another 10.1% to 596p, their lowest level in five years, after analysts at Goldman Sachs downgraded their outlook on the company to neutral, from buy last Friday. The experts believe over-capacity in the market for superconducting wire, which is used in MRI scanners, and weak demand in the industrial and nanotechnology sector will weigh on any recovery. The tough outlook comes after the company lowered its own full-year profit expectations in January, warning that a slowdown in sales to Russian markets would hit trading. Operating profits in Oxford Instruments’ industrial business, which contains the MRI unit, suffered a sharp slowdown in the year to 31 March, with operating profits more than halving to £6.3 million, from £15.6 million a year earlier. The division responsible for the service and maintenance of MRI scanners showed growth in revenue and profits last year, with trading remaining solid. The slowdown in trading comes at a sensitive time for Oxford Instruments. The company greatly increased its debt levels to complete one of its largest ever deals, paying £175 million for Andor Technology, the light measurement specialist, in January 2014. In its results for the year to March, Oxford Instruments revealed net debts of £119 million, against net assets of £125 million. Before the Andor deal was announced, the company was sitting on net cash of £32 million. The group has announced a strategy to cut costs and adjust to the downturn in trading. However, it will struggle to rapidly reduce debts, and that is what is increasing the risks to shareholders. Oxford Instruments at 596p-67p. Questor says “Avoid”.
The Guardian
Slowing growth in China raises red flag for global economy: China’s economic growth slowed in the latest quarter to a six-year low of 6.9%, adding to concerns that the world economy is entering a period of low growth that will extend into next year.
Caparo goes into administration in further blow to British steel industry: Caparo Industries, part of the business empire of the Labour peer Lord Paul, has called in administrators in the latest blow to Britain’s steel industry.
Brickmaker says planning delays have reduced brick demand: A planning logjam has contributed to weakened demand for bricks for housebuilding in the last few months, according to Michelmersh Brick Holdings, the largest maker of specialist bricks.
Daily Mail
Barclays faces £210 million bill on toxic mortgage lawsuit after reaching settlement with U.S. regulator: Barclays has been hit with a £210 million bill to settle a lawsuit in the U.S. over the sale of toxic bundles of mortgage debt before the financial crisis, writes James Salmon. The lender reached a settlement with the U.S. regulator the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA)
Qinetiq scores £5.2 million contract to test upgrades to RAF’s Chinook helicopters: Qinetiq has landed a £5.2 million contract to test and evaluate work undertaken on the Royal Air Force’s Chinook helicopters after they are upgraded by U.S. manufacturer Boeing, writes Ben Griffiths. The twin-rotored Chinook is the mainstay of Britain’s military helicopter force and is used to ferry troops into battle and carry heavy loads such as tanks and artillery slung beneath the aircraft.
Dairy Crest Boss milks it with £1.2 million shares windfall as sale to Muller is given the green light: Dairy Crest Chief executive Mark Allen will receive a £1.2 million share windfall after regulators gave the green light for the sale of his milk business to German firm Muller. The Competition and Markets Authority waved through the deal after Muller agreed to certain concessions which would reduce its dominance in the milk market.
Daily Express
Facebook faces backlash after staff bonus revelation: Facebook will face further public anger as it emerged staff at its London headquarters could be in line for share bonuses worth £250 million over the next three years.
POINTLESS? ONE week after hated ‘bag-tax’ sales of less green-friendly bin liners double: Sales of resource-intensive bin liners and heavy-duty bags have rocketed amid the introduction of the controversial supermarket bag tax, suggesting the new rules will fail to conserve energy and reduce the amount of plastic used. Year on year sales of basic range pedal and waste basket bin liners have jumped by as much as 88%.
The Scottish Herald
Diabetes testing firm invests in Inverness plant after fall in profits: Lifescan Scotland, the diabetes monitoring specialist which employs over 1,000 people in Inverness, has suffered a fall in profits and cut research and development spending amid tough market conditions. However, the company’s U.S. Owner continues to invest at the firm’s site in the Highlands city reflecting confidence in the prospects for the business.
Strathclyde University links up with Californian company in sensor research project: Strathclyde University has agreed a major research partnership with a Californian company at the cutting edge of sensor design and manufacturing. The university said that Los Angeles-based Pressure Profile Systems Inc would make an investment worth in the region of £300,000, over five years, to support the partnership and advance academic research at Strathclyde.
U.S. oil services group commits to Aberdeen: The Forum Energy Technologies oil services group has signalled its commitment to the North Sea market by taking a 15 year lease on a new property in Aberdeen in spite of the downturn in the industry. The U.S. group will bring the majority of its Scottish companies together at the new base in the Westhill area while retaining a separate regional head office nearby. Property specialists at CBRE found the new facility for the company. Aberdeen has been impacted by the slowdown in the North Sea that has followed the crude price fall.
Payday lender sees losses spiral as regulation bites: A Scottish-based payday lender saw its losses widen by 70% last year after it pulled out of short-term lending ahead of a feared clampdown on the sector.
The Scotsman
SMEs starting to close the chronic output gap: Two-thirds of small and medium sized (SME) businesses have taken measures to ratchet up productivity over the past 12 months, a new report said.
H&H Group to grow sales after livestock deal: Agricultural business H&H Group unveiled the acquisition of livestock auctioneers John Swan, heralding the deal as strengthening its business portfolio and providing opportunities to grow market share.
Oil firms urged to tap into £20billion reservoir: Oil and gas firms in the U.K. can dive into a £20 billion reservoir by tightening up on their working capital, new research has suggested.
City A.M.
London’s digital economy could be worth £48.5 billion: Research from Oxford Economics and Virgin Media Business, seen exclusively by City A.M., shows that by going digital, London’s companies could increase their collective revenue by 3.6%, and create around 171,000 jobs over the next two years
Traditional independent shops fall into decline for the first time in three years: Traditional independent shops are disappearing from the high street at a faster rate than before after new figures show that the number or closures outstripped new openings in the first half of 2015.
Consumer anxiety around rogue traders and cowboy builders is costing the U.K. £6 billion – FMB: Shoddy tradespeople and cowboy builders are costing the U.K. economy more than £6 billion a year, according to new research out from the Federation of Master Builders (FMB).
IPPR think tank: one in three U.K. working mothers are breadwinners: One in three working mothers in Britain are the breadwinners in their families, according to a new report out from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR).
Treasury reveals £15 billion annual saving from Chancellor George Osborne’s tax credit reforms: The government has leapt to the defence of its plan to slash tax credits, publishing figures that reveal a £15 billion annual saving from reforms introduced since 2010.
Lord Norman Warner resigns Labour whip and takes leaving jab at Jeremy Corbyn: Labour peer Lord Norman Warner has resigned the Labour whip saying the party was no longer a credible one, according to reports.
Software giant IBM posts steep drop in revenue in third quarter but its cloud sales are growing: IBM’s revenue slumped 14% to $19.3 billion (£12.4) in the three months to September compared with the same period last year. It marks the 14th consecutive quarter of falling sales for the tech giant.
Chinese firm hops on for the ride after investing £100 million into Paramount theme park in Kent: A little known Chinese construction firm has agreed to inject £100 million funding into the development of a new £3.2 billion Hollywood theme park in north Kent.
Now Virgin Money is getting into the money transfer business: Challenger bank Virgin Money is expanding its services and getting into the money transfer business for the first time, underpinned by technology from fintech startup World First.
