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Sunday newspaper round-up: Fiscal cliff, Boots, Tesco

Date: Sunday 24 Jun 2012

Sunday newspaper round-up: Fiscal cliff, Boots, Tesco

Turkey has admitted that one of its fighter jets may have violated Syrian airspace after Damascus confirmed that its forces shot the plane down over the Mediterranean.International figures called for calm as fears grew that the downing of a military aircraft belonging to a Nato member state could have an incendiary effect on the already strained relations between the two countries. Guido Westerwelle, Germany’s Foreign Minister, said he was “greatly worried” by the incident. “Everything must be done to ensure that there won’t be any further escalation in the already tense region,’ he said. In Baghdad, Hoshyar Zebari, the Foreign Minister, said: “Our main concern is the spillover of the crisis into neighbouring countries. If this conflict were to turn into all-out sectarian or civil war, Iraq would be affected, Lebanon would be affected, Jordan would not be immune, Turkey could be (affected),” The Sunday Times reports.

The Bank of England is expected to unveil the latest plank of its recovery strategy this week when it relaxes financial regulations to free up billions of pounds for lending to help reinvigorate the economy. The Financial Policy Committee (FPC) is on Friday widely expected to recommend that banks release some of the cash they are holding as a liquidity buffer. Both Sir Mervyn King, the Bank’s Governor, and his deputy, Paul Tucker, have hinted that rules will be eased to take some of the pressure off the banking sector and help reduce the cost of credit in the real economy. A change in the rules could release tens of billions of pounds for lending, building on the £140bn funding plans unveiled by the Governor and the Chancellor at the Mansion House earlier this month, The Sunday Telegraph writes.

America faces a combination of tax increases and spending cuts in January which risk plunging the world’s biggest economy back into recession if they are all allowed to happen, he said. “There are so many political battles ahead that the likelihood we avoid all of these elements that will then avoid the fiscal cliff is very problematic,” Mr Stiglitz told The Sunday Telegraph. “It’s a real danger.” The warning comes as concerns grow that the US will embark on a fiscal squeeze that economists estimate will be between 3.5% and 4% of the country’s gross domestic product. By contrast, the International Monetary Fund has said that Britain’s fiscal contraction amounted to 1.7% of GDP last year and a further 1.6% is due this year.

Boots is to return to the UK stock market as a by-product of Walgreens’ $6.7bn (£4.3bn) acquisition of a 45% stake in the retailer’s parent company, Alliance Boots. A FTSE100 constituent until it was taken private in a £11.1bn leveraged buy-out led by Alliance Boots’ founder Stefano Pessina and private equity house KKR, the retailer is poised to return to the London Stock Exchange as part of an attempt to increase Walgreens’ European shareholder base. Asked if he foresaw a London listing for Walgreens’ shares, chief executive Greg Wasson told The Sunday Telegraph: “Certainly. We’ve had a pretty good investment base in the UK and Europe and we hope that that will grow as a result of the deal.”

Ambitious plans to build the world’s biggest wind turbines at a state-of-the-art factory in Kent have been ditched. Vestas announced a proposal to build the plant at the Port of Sheerness on the Thames Estuary 13 months ago, in a move that would have created 2,000 jobs. The Danish company said yesterday that it would no longer proceed. It did not explain its withdrawal. However, the decision comes against the backdrop of stalling investment in the British wind industry. There are few concrete commitments to begin work on so-called Round 3 projects, erecting turbines as tall as the Gherkin office tower in the City of London around the coast of Britain. At the same time, the world’s main turbine manufacturers have had their heads turned by the high level of investment being planned in China to develop its wind industry, The Sunday Times says.

The row over bumper bonus deals at Xstrata after its planned merger with Glencore is set to intensify next week as an influential American voting adviser delivers its verdict. With the FTSE 100 mining group under pressure to modify its payout plans, Institutional Shareholder Services will tell investors whether it believes they should back or oppose the awards. Xstrata has promised more than 70 senior managers windfalls worth £217m if they stay on at the group once a merger with Glencore is sealed. The handouts, which have no performance conditions attached, include a £28.8m cash-and-shares arrangement for Mick Davis, the chief executive, over the next three years, according to The Sunday Times.

Ministers are contemplating new laws to ensure everyone pays their “proper share” of tax and legislating greater powers to close down tax avoidance schemes. Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander said he would be considering new laws “to make sure everyone pays their proper share” in the wake of revelations last week that a host of wealthy people, including footballers, financiers and celebrities were using schemes to slash their income tax bill. Accountants were secretly recorded boasting that no matter what efforts were made by HM Revenue and Customs officials, they were able to find fresh loopholes to benefit their clients, Scotland on Sunday says.

Tesco has started the search for a UK commercial director to sort out its stuttering domestic performance, as the grocery giant prepares to face shareholders in Cardiff this week. The world's third-biggest retailer has hired executive search firm, Zygos, to find the new director who will sit on Tesco's UK board and work closely with the chief executive Philip Clarke. Mr Clarke took over the domestic business in March, he said "you can't have two captains in a team". This followed the abrupt departure of former UK chief executive Richard Brasher after 25 years at the company, The Independent on Sunday says.

Monitise, the mobile payment technology specialist, is holding a beauty parade for new bankers ahead of a possible decision to move its London stock market listing to the US. The company, which was spun out of Morse in 2007 and is currently listed on the London Stock Exchange’s Aim market, is known to be talking to a number of banks including Goldman Sachs. Monitise’s current advisers are Canaccord Genuity. The discussions pave the way for what could be a move to Nasdaq, the US bourse, thought to be the favoured option of founder and chief executive, Al Lukies, The Sunday Telegraph reports.

The health problems of Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and new Finance Minister Vassilis Rapanos this weekend are changing the government’s timetable and postponing the visit of the representatives of Greece’s creditors by a week. The hospitalization of the two very people the inspectors of the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund – collectively known as the troika – wished to meet, means that the latter had to put off their visit that was originally planned for Monday, Greek daily Ekathimerini says.

AB

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