Wednesday newspaper round-up: Ryanair, house prices, Mifid II, EDF
Ryanair has applied for a British air operating licence to ensure its domestic UK routes can keep flying after Brexit. The Irish airline has repeatedly warned that flights could be grounded after March 2019 unless a new framework for aviation is agreed between Britain and the EU. – Guardian
House prices in “prime” central London appear to be stabilising, while areas in the south and west of the capital such as Wandsworth and Richmond are now under increasing pressure, according to estate agent Savills. The company is predicting that average property values in central London’s top-end enclaves such as Knightsbridge, Mayfair and Holland Park will record no growth for the next two years following three years of decline. – Guardian
WANdisco, the Sheffield-based software company, has secured its biggest deal to date, capping a turnaround year in which its share price has trebled. The company will announce on Wednesday morning that it has won a $4.3m (£3.2m) contract with “one of the world’s leading financial institutions”. – Telegraph
City staff who spent the Christmas period racing to prepare for a major piece of EU legislation that goes live on Tuesday have been warned that meeting deadline does not mean the work is over. Staff at firms including TP ICAP were barred from taking holiday during the festive period so that they could prepare for the sweeping markets reform, known as Mifid II, by the January 3 deadline. – Telegraph
EDF believes that it can build a second nuclear power station to follow Hinkley Point C for up to £5 billion less than the Somerset plant. The French energy giant has said it will cost it at least £19.6 billion to build Hinkley Point, Britain’s first new nuclear plant in a generation, and as much as £20.3 billion if delays push it becoming operational back from 2025 to 2027. – The Times
Tesco’s former UK food boss did not commit fraud but in fact helped to uncover accounting irregularities after ordering a junior employee to investigate problems in its commercial finance department, his lawyer told a court yesterday. Ian Winter, QC, for John Scouler, said that far from trying to cover up a fraud, Mr Scouler had “ordered” Amit Soni — a Tesco finance director and the “whistleblower” behind the grocer’s high-profile accounting scandal — to investigate problems with the reporting of income from suppliers. – The Times