Afternoon Finance Press
Below are the key morning headlines from today’s papers, featuring the Financial Times, The Times, The Telegraph, The Daily Mail & more - see the full Press section here.
Wall Street opens lower. As predicted, shares in New York have fallen into the red in early trading. The Dow Jones industrial average has dropped by over 0.6%, or 160 points, as the prospect of further interest rate hikes continues to worry Wall Street
Unilever has ‘no regrets’ on U-turn over HQ as sales grow. Consumer goods giant on Thursday attempted to provide some relief to shareholders by posting sales growth and insisting there are “no regrets” over a humiliating climbdown from plans to move its HQ to Rotterdam. The Marmite maker gave its first trading update after it abandoned proposals to shift its legal head office to the Netherlands from London two weeks ago. That followed a major rebellion from investors. Finance director Graeme Pitkethly said: “We certainly don’t regret having brought the proposals [forward] themselves.” He added: “I don’t feel time was wasted.” He also said the firm met some 370 investors since the proposal was unveiled in March.
Six publicans, including former model Jodie Kidd, have dropped off a petition at Downing Street today, calling for a cut in beer duty in this month’s budget. Organised by the “Long Live the Local” campaign, it warns that 12% of pubs could close in the next five years unless the chancellor cuts the duty (currently three times the EU average).
Funding Circle feels pressure as short sellers start to hover over lender. Short-sellers have taken aim at recently floated , placing millions of pounds of bets on the share price falling. Latest data from research firm IHS Markit shows that 1.74%, or £22.6 million, of the peer-to-peer lending firm’s shares are out on loan as investors short the stock. The firms doing the shorting and the dates they took their positions have not been revealed by the Financial Conduct Authority as each position is less than 0.5% and does not have to be publicly declared.
Thousands of property whizzes on Wednesday descended on London’s Olympia for the industry’s largest annual get together in the UK before Britain leaves the EU. Organisers of the two-day Mipim UK event, comprising conferences, drinks and deal-making meetings, expected 3000 delegates to attend. and were among the UK firms in West Kensington, and international investors such as Saudi Aramco, Temasek from Singapore and China’s Fosun were also in town. The strong turn-out comes despite concerns that the real estate market here could be less attractive after Brexit, with jitters that demand for homes and offices could slow. Attendee John Slade, executive chairman of Evans Randall Investors, said: “London is a stable market in or out of the EU and is looked at favourably by the investment community. As a showcase for the London and wider UK opportunity, Mipim UK is as relevant as ever.” Developer director Richard Starr said: “London will remain a focus for real estate investment.”
Growing Corporate debt echoes 2008 crisis. A risky corporate debt splurge is raising echoes of the financial crisis, the Bank of England fears, as officials scour the market for signs that a debt crunch could hurt banks and the wider economy. Growth in borrowing by heavily indebted companies and those with “junk” credit status is rising at levels seen in sub-prime mortgages before the financial crisis and now stands at more than $1 trillion globally. The Bank’s Financial Policy Committee (FPC) is “concerned” the surging debts could build new vulnerabilities in the financial system. The debts, known as leveraged or covenant-lite loans, are typically packaged up and sold on. Sir Jon Cunliffe, deputy governor at the Bank, said this shows similarities with the credit crunch.
US threatens to block European banks from exchanges over Brexit derivatives deal. A top US regulator has threatened to prevent European banks from accessing US futures markets over EU plans for the oversight of foreign clearing houses after Brexit. Speaking at the Futures and Options Expo in Chicago, Christopher Giancarlo, head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, called the EU plans to amend European Market Infrastructure Regulation “unprecedented and wholly unacceptable” and warned they could create “costly burdensome regulatory requirements” in the US. Mr Giancarlo said that if the EU did not change the existing plans he would have “no choice” but to select from a wide range of actions that includes barring EU banks from using US financial infrastructure such as the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
has accused cabin crew of “faking” a photograph depicting staff being forced to sleep in their crew room, in the latest bizarre twist to the low-cost airline’s battle with its unions. A photo was posted on social media on Sunday showing staff bedding down in Malaga airport. The picture, allegedly of Ryanair Porto crew, was accompanied with a caption suggesting “the company left them there”. The Irish carrier initially apologised, saying there had been no hotel rooms available for the staff who had been diverted following inclement weather. However, Ryanair took to social media itself on Wednesday, releasing CCTV footage together with an allegation that the photo had been staged.
has profited from tens of thousands of passengers shunning rail travel this summer and choosing to go by coach instead. The transport giant said it had enjoyed an “outstanding” summer within its UK coach division, together with a “particularly strong” performance in Spain. It made around 90,000 extra passenger journeys during July, August and September, ferrying people between London and the south west as Great Western Railway services were blighted by engineering works. National Express’s third quarter revenue rose 9.5%, with profit before tax up 18.3%. Shares in the company rose more than 5pc in morning trade on the back of the results
could be forced to sell the UK arm of its newly-acquired Cannon Hygiene business after competition watchdogs warned the deal could lead to higher prices. The Competition & Markets Authority said a sell-off was one of the remedies it was considering in response to the takeover, which was referred for an investigation after it was completed in January. FTSE 100 member Rentokil makes most of its money in pest control but is also the second-largest player in the UK “hygiene services” industry, with an 11% market share. The acquisition of third-placed Cannon would raise that 16%
Surrey’s would-be oil drillers claim that crude flows could gush from the Home Counties at triple the expected rate by next year – although not everyone is convinced. Fresh testing of an oil well near Gatwick has revealed that up to 1,000 barrels of oil could flow from Surrey’s sandstone layers every day, according to the company behind the plans. sparked a 6% share price bounce by telling investors that its plans for the Portland oil licence are “commercially viable”. Stephen Sanderson, UKOG’s chief executive, said by the end of this year it would apply to Surrey County Council for permission to begin commercial drilling in 2019. However, experts have once again poured doubt on the latest round of claims from the company.
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