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.
Oil price and markets fall amid global jitters. FTSE 100 on course for worst month in decade. The price of oil fell sharply yesterday and leading global stock markets are on course for their worst month in years as political tensions and concern about an economic slowdown worry investors. Brent crude fell by more than 5% at one stage, wiping out its gains over the past month, while the tech-focused Nasdaq dropped into correction territory in the US and markets in Asia and Europe also tumbled. Oil was down 4.7% at $76.10 a barrel in New York last night on reports that American stockpiles rose last week. This compares with the four-year highs of more than $86 that it reached this month. Equity and commodity markets have been on edge over the past month because of factors including concerns about the trade war between the US and China, a slowdown in Chinese growth, a row between Italy and the EU over the country’s budget deficit, Brexit, and the blow to relations between Saudi Arabia and the West from the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. US investors were also alarmed by mixed results from companies considered a bellwether for the domestic economy, including the manufacturing group 3M, the digger-maker Caterpillar and Harley-Davidson.
Goldman fund backs new £2.5bn UK broadband network. CityFibre Infrastructure Holdings (CITY) project aims to reach 5m homes in 37 cities by 2024
Whitbread vows Premier Inn will ‘stamp across Europe’ using Costa proceeds. Whitbread (WTB) is primed to “stamp across Europe”, boss Alison Brittain has insisted, despite suffering a summer slowdown at its main remaining business Premier Inn. In its first trading update since shocking investors with a £3.9bn deal to sell Costa Coffee to Coca Cola, the FTSE 100 company warned profit growth may be lower due to its investment plans, inflationary pressures in the consumer sector and uncertainties over Brexit. Whitbread’s latest figured showed that half-year revenue rose 2.6% to £1.1bn on flat profit before tax of £257m. In a regulatory statement, Ms Brittain warned of “some weakness in consumer demand over the summer”.
Bunzl (BNZL) has continued its acquisition drive by buying a Brazilian safety equipment group, although it looks unlikely to equal last year’s record spending spree. The company, which distributes industrial packaging products to customers across a variety of sectors, said it had agreed to buy Brazilian business Volk do Brasil, although it did not give a price for the transaction. Volk do Brasil, a safety equipment supplier based in Parana, is expected to have sales of about £41m this year. Completion of the acquisition is subject to clearance by the Brazilian competition authority
Patisserie silent over share option ‘discrepancy’. The parent company of Patisserie Holdings (CAKE) appears to have issued twice as many share options to two of its directors as it disclosed to investors in its most recent annual accounts, prompting concerns about the governance of the troubled café chain. An adviser to leading shareholders in Patisserie Holdings has warned that company announcements show that twice as many share options were cashed in by the two executives this year as were disclosed as options granted to them in the company’s accounts. The executives involved are Paul May, its chief executive, and Chris Marsh, the finance director. Mr Marsh was also company secretary. The share awards and sales described in company announcements would have led to a profit of £2.6 million for Mr May and £2 million for Mr Marsh.
Lloyds and Schroders agree strategy for £80bn wealth management tie-up. Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) and Schroders (SDR) , two of the City’s biggest blue chip companies, have reached an agreement on an £80bn tie-up of their wealth management businesses. High street bank Lloyds has been looking for a new home for £109bn worth of assets since it announced plans to ditch its long-standing manager Standard Life Aberdeen earlier this year. Lloyds confirmed it has agreed to transfer the bulk of those assets to Schroders, after striking a separate deal to move £30bn to Blackrock. Under the terms of the deal Lloyds and Schroders have agreed a three-pronged approach.
NatWest finds extra £2bn for firms preparing for Brexit. High street lender NatWest has identified nearly 2,000 business customers it thinks may need extra cash to get through Brexit and extended support to small companies by £2bn. The firm – which makes up the bulk of taxpayer-controlled Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) – said it was trebling its ‘growth fund’ for small businesses to £3bn, up from an initial £1bn pot unveiled in May this year. NatWest said it had undertaken “in-depth analysis” of its customers and the wider market to determine which could be most exposed to any potential fallout from a disorderly Brexit.
Whitbread makes room for hotel growth after Costa sale. The owner of Premier Inn is to expand the hotel chain in the UK and Germany as it seeks to develop the business after the sale of Costa Coffee to Coca-Cola. Whitbread (WTB) said it had about 6,000 rooms in the pipeline in Germany that should be delivered by 2021. In the UK, where it has 74,000 rooms, it has committed to a further 13,000 rooms, “with line of sight to 100,000 rooms”. In an attempt to further cement its dominance in the British budget hotel sector, Whitbread is preparing to launch Zip by Premier Inn, providing small, “very simple” rooms for as little as £19 a night. The first hotel is to open in Cardiff next year and the company said this super-budget market, which aims at extra value-conscious travellers staying at bed and breakfasts or Airbnb venues, could be worth up to £1 billion.
St James’s Place hits £100bn of assets under management. Wealth manager St James’s Place (STJ) has reached £100bn of assets under management thanks to greater client inflows, even as its quarterly growth slowed. The company, which provides advice on investments, pensions and tax, said demand had continued for its services despite a tough market backdrop, which had resulted in some investors pulling funds from a number of money managers. Its net inflows in the first nine months of the year grew 15pc to £7.68bn, taking its total funds to a record £100.59bn, up from £85.69bn a year ago. The rise in assets was also attributed to strong retention of client funds, which stood at 96%
Intu sets out plans for new homes around shopping sites. The British shopping centre owner facing its second takeover approach this year has sketched out plans for thousands of homes to be built around its malls in an attempt to hedge against falling retail property valuations. Intu Properties (INTU) , the FTSE 250 owner of the Trafford Centre in Manchester, said it had identified the potential for 5,000 rented homes and nearly 600 hotel rooms on car parks and other land around its out of town centres. The company reported a 3% fall in the value of its shopping centre portfolio to £9.6billion in the three months to the end of September in a trading update, adding to a 5.6% drop in the first six months of the year. The statement was triggered by a £2.9 billion indicative takeover approach from a consortium led by the billionaire John Whittaker’s Peel Group, which is the largest shareholder in Intu. Mr Whittaker is deputy chairman of Intu
Harry Potter publisher Bloomsbury to expand academic and professional divisions. Bloomsbury Publishing (BMY) is to ramp up its academic and professional divisions to become more of “a balanced house”, depending less on its consumer titles such as the Harry Potter series, which currently drives 62% of the business. Nigel Newton, the publisher’s chief executive, said the business wanted to develop a string of partnerships to strengthen its position. Currently, only 13% its total revenue is derived from digital sources such as ebooks and subscriptions to academic resources.
Millions of households get broadband boost. A broadband group aims to connect an initial five million homes to full-fibre broadband by 2025 through a £2.5 billion investment. CityFibre Infrastructure Holdings (CITY) has identified 27 British towns and cities that are primed for fibre to be introduced, in addition to the ten where it is already working. The company is considered a challenger to BT Group (BT.A) and agreed to a £538 million takeover in April by a consortium backed by Goldman Sachs. It aims to build full-fibre infrastructure serving 20% of the UK market with fibre-to-the-home network, which corresponds to a third of the government’s 2025 target of 15 million homes. It predicts that its full-fibre investment plan will create 5,000 construction jobs and bring £85 billion in associated economic benefits as well as enabling the introduction of 5G and technology for the internet of things, whereby devices such as home appliances are connected to the internet.
Senior manager at Acacia Mining (ACA) in Tanzania is arrested over alleged tax evasion and money laundering. One of Acacia Mining’s senior managers in Tanzania has been charged by the country’s anti-corruption agency. The struggling gold miner said the employee, who is a Tanzanian, has been arrested and charged over alleged tax evasion, forgery and money laundering. He has pleaded not guilty on all counts, but due to rules about offences under Tanzania’s anti-money laundering act, he cannot be released on bail
Shares in Faron Pharmaceuticals Oy (DI) (FARN) tanked as it revealed the trial of its drug may have been affected by other medications the patients were taking. The phase three trial of Traumakine, designed to alleviate acute respiratory distress syndrome, produced disappointing results when it concluded earlier this year. But Faron has said the mortality rate among patients was significantly less when they took Traumakine alone, rather than with corticosteroids.
