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Monday newspaper round-up: Persimmon, Marks & Spencer, Centrica

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Date: Monday 07 Jul 2008

LONDON (ShareCast) - Troubled housebuilder Persimmon will confirm tomorrow it has made around 1,000 staff redundant - bringing the total number of job losses announced in the sector in the past seven days to 3,200.

Persimmon will confirm how many of its 5,000-strong workforce it has made redundant alongside a trading update on Tuesday. The housebuilder launched a consultation with staff at the end of May, warning that "several hundred" jobs were at risk, reports the Telegraph.

One in four Marks & Spencer shareholders is expected to abstain or vote against the election of Sir Stuart Rose as executive chairman of the retailer this week. An executive close to M&S said that of the institutions to have already submitted their proxy votes, over 25% have abstained or voted against Sir Stuart's election, reports the Telegraph.

Three separate funds are being created to exploit investment opportunities in the battered aviation, hotels and property sectors, The Times has learnt, in a sign that some investors are calling the bottom of the market. The new funds include one organised by Sir Richard Branson, which is well on the way to raising more than $1bn from outside investors to back start-up airlines and carriers in financial difficulties, reports the Times.

Britain's banks make £2.5bn a year in profit from unauthorised overdraft charges, the Office of Fair Trading is expected to reveal later this month. Hundreds of thousands of consumers have sought refunds on overdraft charges and analysts estimate the banks may have to repay as much as £10bn if the OFT wins the court case it is pursuing against them, reports the Telegraph.

Aldi, Lidl and Netto, the discount supermarkets, are forecast to increase their share of Britain's grocery market by 60% over the next four years as the middle classes trade down because of the credit crunch. A new report claims that the discount chains will generate nearly £7.5bn of sales in 2012, compared with £4.5bn last year. Joanne Denney-Finch, chief executive of the Institute of Grocery Distribution said: “The UK discount market will continue to grow as discount retailers reap the benefits of a more price-conscious environment, reports the Times.

Rules introduced by the UK’s financial watchdog that force hedge funds to disclose short positions in companies holding rights issues have caused confusion among investors. Nearly half the disclosures made by hedge funds since the Financial Services Authority announced the changes have contained errors as the funds struggle to get to grips with complex calculations. According to analysis by the Financial Times, 20 of the 41 disclosures so far have missed filing deadlines, contained the wrong calculations or not been required.

Rivals to Royal Mail now handle one in every four letters and are poised to increase volumes further, The Times has learnt. It is understood that Royal Mail now carries out the full process of collection, sorting and deliver of three out of every four letters posted, as against four out of five last year. This follows an exodus of blue-chip bulk mailing customers to rival operators such as TNT and Business Post.

British Gas, the country's largest energy supplier, is preparing for a fresh round of energy price rises of at least 15%, which could hit its 16 million customers within a matter of weeks. Centrica, the owner of British Gas, is struggling to maintain profitability in its retail energy business as gas prices have trebled over the past year, reports the Times.

A cut of 5p a litre in the price of petrol and diesel was proposed by the Tories yesterday, with radical plans to change the way tax is levied on fuel in the wake of record global prices for oil. The shadow Chancellor, George Osborne, launched a consultation on plans to scrap the existing fuel duty escalator and to replace it with a "fair fuel stabiliser" which would automatically allow the tax on fuel to fall when the world price for oil goes up, writes the Independent.




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