Below are the key morning and weekend press headlines, featuring the The Times, The Telegraph, The Daily Mail & more - see the full Press section here.
Tesco (TSCO) is weighing up the sale of its Asian grocery empire, which could value its retail operations across Thailand and Malaysia at up to $9 billion. Tesco confirmed that it had begun a review of its businesses in the region “following inbound interest”, but insisted that the process was at an early stage. Analysts last night branded its Lotus division in Thailand a “trophy asset” and predicted that the price could reach “nosebleed territory” in the event of a sale. The announcement raises the prospect of another international retreat by Tesco, which has withdrawn from the United States, South Korea and Japan over the past decade.
Heavy rain heaped more pressure on UK shopkeepers in November, with high street retailers hit hardest by declining shopper numbers. The number of visitors to high streets fell by 4.3% in November compared with the same month last year, twice the rate of decline of retail parks, which fell by 1.8%, according to new figures from Springboard, a data company. Parts of Yorkshire, the Midlands, Lincolnshire, north-east England and the eastern fringes of Scotland were particularly affected by heavy rainfall and flooding during November, with more than twice the normal level in some places, according to the Met Office. The Springboard analyst Diane Wehrle said that while high streets always tend to suffer more from rain than other shopping destinations, many retail parks had also taken action to slow their rate of decline, including by adding more restaurants. Overall retail footfall across the high street, shopping centres and retail parks declined by 3.4% year on year in November, said Springboard, based on data from 480 shopping locations.
A Hong Kong hedge fund secretly built up the biggest ever short position in the UK by taking huge bets against Premier Oil (PMO) shares. Asia Research & Capital Management should have revealed its bet to the Financial Conduct Authority in February 2017 when its short position in the North Sea oil firm’s shares went above 0.5%. But ARCM, which invests in distressed assets, did not disclose the bet to the watchdog until Friday last week – when it belatedly revealed that it had built up an enormous 17% short position worth £132million. ARCM’s huge short position – thought to be the largest ever disclosed in the UK – is understood to be a hedge against its $380million holding of Premier Oil’s $2.55billion net debt, which becomes repayable in May 2021.
The wealthiest member of the Church of Scientology has invested another $50 million in a small antibiotics developer listed in London. Bob Duggan, an American biotechnology billionaire, has poured the money into Summit Therapeutics (SUMM) , which is working on ridinilazole, a potential new treatment for the Clostridium difficile bacterial infection, which can cause serious bowel problems. The drug is already in late-stage trials and the extra cash will fund the studies through to completion, with results due in the second half of 2021. Assuming that they are successful, the money also will help to start marketing and selling the drug, which could happen as early as 2023. Mr Duggan, 75, first invested in Summit this time last year and after his latest share purchase he will own a 72.8% stake in the company. His net worth is estimated at $2 billion, most of which came from selling Pharmacyclics, his biotechnology company, to Abbvie in 2015, a deal that netted him close to $3.5 billion.
Eddie Stobart Logistics (ESL) has clawed its way back from the brink after investors backed a rescue that puts the son of its founder back in the driving seat. Shareholders overwhelmingly supported a proposal from offshore fund DBay Advisors at a crunch meeting in London on Friday – saving the company from, administration months after its finances were crippled by an accounting scandal. William Stobart, whose father Eddie founded the business 50 years ago, has been appointed executive chairman under the terms of the deal. DBay – already the company’s biggest shareholder – will take a majority stake in return for a £55m high-interest loan.
Standard Life Aberdeen (SLA) is monitoring its £1.3bn UK property fund closely after a wave of redemptions caused by fears over retail prompted rival M&G PLC (MNG) to gate its fund. Investors pulled money from property funds at the fastest rate so far this year last week, with £57m flowing out on Thursday alone, according to analysis firm Calastone. About £1.5bn has been withdrawn this year, more than in 2016, when so-called open-ended property funds were last suspended. Then, investors were spooked by the Brexit vote. Now they are reacting to the funds’ exposure to the high street and shopping centres. Almost 50% of the Aberdeen UK fund is invested in retail. Investors withdrew £31m from the Aberdeen fund on Wednesday, almost equal to the amount taken out over the previous four months.
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) is paving the way for an historic overhaul of its flagship Marble Arch store as part of a major plan to downsize some of its biggest shops. About 20 stores – mainly in desirable but expensive city centre locations thought also to include Birmingham – are under the microscope as part of the review. The upper floors of the shops could be converted into residential or office space. The majority of the stores affected, mostly locations that occupy four or five storeys, are expected to continue trading as M&S on lower floors. The company last night declined to confirm the names of specific locations affected and the plan is in its early stages. But retail market sources said Marble Arch – which has seven floors and also houses staff training accommodation and a press showroom – has been discussed internally.
Ted Baker (TED) has hired headhunters to find a new chairman, paving the way for a shake-up of its top ranks after a catastrophic year that has plunged the fashion retailer into crisis. The company has appointed Korn Ferry to find a replacement for David Bernstein, 76, who joined the board in 2003 and became chairman in 2013. He took on an executive role in March after founder and chief executive Ray Kelvin was forced out amid allegations of sexual harassment, revealed by The Sunday Times, which he denies. Kelvin’s successor, Lindsay Page, whom Bernstein promoted from finance director, is under pressure after Ted Baker announced last week it had overstated the value of its stock by between £20m and £25m in prior years, heaping more misery on investors who have seen the value of their holdings plunge by three-quarters this year to 392p a share, or £174.7m. Ted Baker is scheduled to issue a trading update on Wednesday.
Standard Chartered (STAN) has been accused of ignoring warnings that one of its major clients was helping the Taliban to kill and maim British and American troops in Afghanistan. Documents seen by The Mail on Sunday show that the British bank provided foreign exchange and export finance services to Fatima Group from 2009 until at least 2014. In an extraordinary intervention, a US army general last night claimed he met Standard Chartered bosses in January 2013 to warn that the Pakistani fertiliser firm was helping to supply the Taliban with materials used in the manufacture of deadly homemade bombs.