Afternoon Financial Press Review
Below are the key headlines from today’s updated papers, featuring the Financial Times, The Times, The Telegraph, The Daily Mail & more - see the full Press section here.
‘Conflicts’ row as engineer Jacobs controls £200 billion of UK projects. A single US engineering firm is working on £200 billion-worth of major London and UK infrastructure projects, including Crossrail, HS2 and the £5 billion super-sewer, the Standard can reveal on Wednesday. MPs and campaign groups warned public-sector construction works are becoming “a closed shop”, where “the taxpayer has to pick up the pieces”, after it emerged Jacobs, a Texan engineering firm, is concurrently working on almost all London’s biggest upgrade works. Jacobs won some of the deals directly, and inherited some via acquisitions including of US rival CH2M in 2017 for £2.1 billion. It also has contracts for Heathrow’s third runway expansion, the £4 billion Parliamentary restoration works, Gatwick’s investment projects, the planned new Thames barrier, the Lower Thames Crossing, and a string of Transport for London upgrade contracts.
M&S to start selling loose fruit and veg in shift away from plastic. As part of London store trial greengrocers will also offer tips on how to prevent food waste. is to start selling more than 90 lines of loose fruit and vegetables free of all plastic packaging, in a trial that will put the traditional greengrocer back on the shop floor and revive the use of paper bags. As the retailer steps up its drive to reduce plastics, shoppers at its store in Tolworth, south-west London, will be able to pick their own loose produce displayed in two separate aisles. Trained greengrocers will be on hand to help customers and offer tips on how to keep fresh produce and prevent food waste at home. As part of the trial M&S has also removed best before date labels from fresh fruit and veg. Shoppers will be offered more perishable items such as soft fruits and berries in compostable punnets. M&S has also committed to introducing additional lines of loose produce and more sustainable alternatives to plastic in every UK store, which it says could reduce plastic waste by 580 tonnes over two years. The plan will involve replacing plastic produce bags with paper ones and phasing out plastic barcode stickers
Rakesh Kapoor to step down as chief. Reckitt Benckiser’s divisive chief executive Rakesh Kapoor on Wednesday revealed he will leave the consumer goods giant, where he has worked since 1987. The 60-year-old, who has been at the helm of the Nurofen, Clearasil and Durex maker for eight years, will retire at the end of 2019. He said: “I believe now is a good time for new leadership to take this great company through the next phase of outperformance.” The board has started a search for a successor. Shares in Reckitt Benckiser fell 204p to 6048p. His departure will bring an end to a reign which has been far from smooth. The boss has faced shareholder revolts over his package, and in 2017 his pay was voluntarily slashed by £11 million, although he still pocketed £12.5 million in salary and bonuses.
Bovis speeds up comeback from the brink and hails improving profits. on Wednesday forecast record results in the near future as the company continued its recovery from a crisis which nearly saw it taken over by rivals. Shares rose 47.8p to 974.6p or 5% as it forecast annual profits “slightly ahead” of City hopes, after boosting margins and selling 3,759 homes in 2018 — up 3% on the prior year. Chief executive Greg Fitzgerald took the reins at Bovis 18 months ago after a string of profit warnings and shoddy workmanship hitting sales targets trashed the shares and sparked opportunistic bids from Galliford Try and Redrow. Fitzgerald has improved the quality of its homes, and the firm is on track for a four-star rating from the House Builders’ Federation.
Vegan parties boost sales at the City Pub Group. A “surprising” number of businesses decided to host vegan Christmas parties, according to the , which on Wednesday cheered sales growth. Chairman Clive Watson said Tell Your Friends, its Parsons Green all-vegan boozer, had strong trading last month with more work dos booked in than he expected. He added that Brits shunning meat and dairy for “Veganuary” had led to the pub being packed this month. Watson, whose daughters Lucy and Tiffany have been on reality show Made in Chelsea, said as he reported full-year results: “Trading was encouraging over the festive period and throughout 2018.” Turnover rose 22% to £45.6 million and comparable sales were up 1.6%.
Relief for households as inflation falls to 2.1%. Inflation has dropped to its lowest level in almost two years, with falling oil prices and cheap air fares boosting living standards. The consumer prices index fell to 2.1% in the year to December from 2.3% in November. It is the lowest figure since January 2017, when inflation came in at 1.8%. The fall in inflation combined with a period of sustained wage growth suggests that living standards are improving. Wages grew at their fastest pace in a decade in the three months to October and have been outstripping inflation since the beginning of last year. Economists said that the fall in inflation made an interest rate hike less urgent and that the Bank of England would likely wait for more clarity on Britain’s future relationship with the European Union before moving rates from their current level of 0.75%.
Cineworld powers ahead in US but UK audience numbers decline. Blockbuster hits including Avengers: Infinity War and Incredibles 2 drove movie fans to in the US but customers in the UK were less enticed. The FTSE 250 company welcomed a record 308m people into its cinemas last year, but UK admissions dipped 0.6% on a constant currency basis. The fall was offset by a 8.6% surge in American audience numbers. The region now accounts for around 70pc of revenue after Cineworld swallowed Regal Entertainment, the second largest cinema chain in the US by number of screens, for £2.7bn last year.
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