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.
- BT Group (BT.A) investors are calling on the company’s next boss to consider split. According to a report in the Financial Times, some influential BT shareholders said that when the incoming CEO is appointed, they should have the chance to look at spinning off broadband arm Openreach.
- Countrywide (CWD) scraps £20m pay deal for chiefs. The embattled estate agency group had outlined proposals this month to award performance shares potentially worth about £20m to top bosses — plans announced alongside an emergency £140m fundraising, launched to cut the group’s debts and turn the business around. However, Institutional Shareholder Services had advised shareholders to vote against the incentive scheme, calling it excessive and complex.
- Premier Oil (PMO) has given the green light to development on the Tolmount field - one of the North Sea’s largest undeveloped gas discoveries.
The field will produce about 500bn cubic feet of natural gas and around 58,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day.
Chief Executive Tony Durrant said: “Tolmount is one of the largest undeveloped gas discoveries in the Southern North Sea and is, in barrel of oil equivalent terms, similar in size to our Catcher project.”
- KPMG has been fined £2m for misconduct over work for Ted Baker (TED) . The firm has been fined by the Financial Report Council in a commercial court claim in relation to audits of fashion retailer Ted Baker (TED) . The FRC said the accounting firm breached ethical standards by providing expert witness services in a court case while it was also auditing its accounts.
- Mulberry Group (MUL) has warned that the collapse of House of Fraser into administration could cost it as much as £3m, causing its shares to plunge nearly 30%. According to creditor documents published by House of Fraser administrator EY, Mulberry is owed £2.4m. It comes as 627 jobs were put at risk at warehouse operator XPO Logistics following a standoff with new House of Fraser owner Mike Ashley over the £30.4m it was owed.
- Golden spell for producer of titanium. Kenmare Resources (KMR) has reported a doubling in operating profits to $31.5m in the first half of the year on the back of higher prices and record sales.
- Keywords Studios (KWS) rose 42p to £18.12 after it announced the £26m acquisition of Gobo, a British-based company that provides game development services. Keywords expects the company to add “considerable expertise and scale” to its video games development business. Gobo’s revenues rose from £6.2m for the year ending September 2017 to around £11.6m for the 12 months to July 2018.
