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Sunday newspaper round-up: HBOS, Senior, Land Securities

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Date: Sunday 27 Apr 2008

LONDON (ShareCast) - The board of HBOS will meet tomorrow to decide whether to approve a multi-billion-pound rights issue to repair the bank’s balance sheet, according to the Sunday Times.

Senior retailers last night accused the Office of Fair Trading of "abusing its powers" and claimed it was "out of control", reflecting fears that the relationship between Britain's supermarkets and the competition watchdog has become unworkable, says the Sunday Telegraph.

The Government has torpedoed secret attempts by BAA, the owner of Heathrow and Gatwick airports, to hand a lucrative directorship to Sir David Rowlands, a former civil servant who played a key role in directing national airport policy, reports the Sunday Telegraph.

A high-powered consortium has entered the bidding for Trillium, setting the scene for an intriguing £2 billion takeover battle for the property outsourcing business owned by Land Securities. The property tycoon Vincent Tchenguiz has teamed up with AAIM Infrastructure, a fund backed by Bank of Scotland that specialises in investment in public-sector projects, writes the Sunday Times.

Pension funds for defined benefit company schemes are facing huge shortfalls because members are living far longer than expected, according to a report seen by the Independent on Sunday.

Abbey is expected to reveal a jump of almost 20% in first-quarter profits this week, after picking up mortgage customers from struggling rivals, according to the Sunday Times.

The Government is no closer to appointing an independent arbitrator to determine how much Northern Rock shareholders should be compensated after the nationalisation of the Newcastle-based bank two months ago, says the Independent on Sunday.

The investigation into the collapse in the share price of HBOS last month on a rumour that the bank was facing a liquidity crisis, has been widened to take in other banks that have suffered similar falls, writes the Sunday Times.

The board of the £192m Throgmorton investment trust, which has received a merger proposal from rival fund, Gartmore Growth Opportunities, is believed to have held a beauty parade of buyers to try to secure other offers, reports the Independent on Sunday.

Most firms have not been affected by the credit crunch and there is a risk that the attention devoted to its impact on the City and Canary Wharf overdoes the gloom, according to the Sunday Times.

James Packer, the son of the late billionaire media mogul Kerry, and the Australian investment bank Macquarie are front-runners in the £400m chase for Extra, the UK's fourth-biggest motorways services chain, says the Independent on Sunday.

There are growing fears that the £7.20-an-hour minimum wage for people working on local government projects in London could be in breach of EU law, reports the Independent on Sunday.

Ineos, the petrochemicals giant whose Grangemouth refinery in Scotland has been shut down by a strike, is in talks with British Energy over a power deal that would help to finance a new generation of nuclear power stations in Britain, writes the Sunday Times.

Richard Baker, the former boss of Boots, the high street chemist, is limbering up for a return to the boardroom at Virgin Active, Sir Richard Branson's gym chain, according to the Sunday Telegraph.