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Sunday's newspaper round-up: Marks & Spencer, Minerva, Alliance & Leicester

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Date: Sunday 06 Jul 2008

LONDON (ShareCast) - Troubled Marks & Spencer has suspended its £600m share buyback as it reviews the controversial programme, says the Sunday Telegraph.

The Marks and Spencer board will this week face an embarrassing protest vote at its AGM from shareholders angered by the decision to promote Sir Stuart Rose to executive chairman, reports the Observer.

The takeover of Minerva by the Gulf state of Dubai is this weekend hanging in the balance after the troubled property company rebuffed a takeover proposal from its Middle Eastern suitor, writes the Sunday Telegraph.

Alliance & Leicester is plotting a savage dividend cut to shore up its finances in a move expected to save the mortgage bank about £80m a year, reports the Sunday Times.

As much as £1bn could be wiped off the value of Legal & General's business, and 15 per cent off its profitability, under new accounting rules being introduced across Europe, according to a leading analyst who warns that the rules could hit flotation plans for Paternoster, writes the Observer.

Friends Provident's chairman, Sir Adrian Montague, will come under renewed pressure this week, with the group's proposed sell-off of asset management division F&C, high-end insurance arm Lombard and wealth manager Pantheon now thought to be in grave doubt, reports the Independent on Sunday.

Bradford & Bingley chairman Rod Kent will this week launch a charm offensive to persuade investors the bank has a profitable future, despite having to rewrite the terms of its £400m rights issue for the third time, reports the Observer.

Goldman Sachs, the investment bank, is to be paid a "success" fee by Bradford & Bingley, the ailing mortgage-lender, despite the last-minute withdrawal of a rescue package involving TPG, the American private equity firm, reports the Sunday Telegraph.

The Royal Bank of Scotland is holding discussions about merging the Priory and Four Seasons, a move that would lead to a radical shake-up of Britain’s healthcare sector, says the Sunday Times.

BSkyB is likely to miss its crucial target of signing up 10m subscribers by the end of 2010, in a sign that the boom in pay-television is beginning to peter out, reports Sunday Telegraph.

Heineken is set to restate profits for newly acquired Scottish & Newcastle UK by as much as 10 per cent after finding discrepancies in the Edinburgh-based company's accounts, says the Sunday Telegraph.

Property giant Land Securities will decide at a board meeting in two weeks whether to sell its Trillium outsourcing and infrastructure business, says the Independent on Sunday.

The extent of the collapse in the housebuilding market will be revealed this week with trading statements from Barratt Developments and Persimmon, two of the sector's big three, reports the Independent on Sunday.

The housebuilding entrepreneur Tony Pidgley and three fellow directors are to defy the gloom pervading the sector by getting a £60m share payout. Pidgley and his colleagues will receive 7% of Berkeley Group, the housebuilder, which has a market value of £766m, writes the Sunday Times.

BP's Russian joint venture partners are poised to take legal action against TNK-BP chief executive, writes the Observer.

Buyout legend Jon Moulton and turnaround specialist RJD Partners are preparing bids for motoring divisions being auctioned by Aviva this month, says the Independent on Sunday.

The management of Electronic Data Processing, the London-listed technology group, is believed to be readying itself to make a bid for the firm as early as this week, says the Independent on Sunday.

Sir Martin Sorrell, boss of advertising giant WPP, will decide whether to go hostile with a £1.1bn bid for market research group TNS after meeting more of its shareholders tomorrow and on Tuesday, says the Observer.

BA is poised to unveil a transatlantic alliance with American Airlines and Iberia of Spain, with an announcement expected at the airline's annual meeting on 15 July, says the Observer.

The leisure group Inspired Gaming, which makes and distributes amusement machines, is close to a deal to sell its pubs division to rival Danoptra in a move that could save 850 jobs, writes the Sunday Times.

Forth Ports is racing against the clock to ensure Scotland does not lose its only direct ferry service to continental Europe, reports the Sunday Times.

Bank of England policymakers will leave interest rates on hold on Thursday, as they struggle to balance the threat of rising inflation against the fear of recession, according to the Observer-New Star rate predictor.

The threat of rising unemployment in Britain will be driven home this week by news that the number of permanent jobs available has fallen for the first time in five years, reports the Sunday Telegraph.

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