Below are the key morning headlines from today’s papers, featuring the Financial Times, The Times, The Telegraph, The Daily Mail & more - see the full Press section here.
- About 1,000 workers at Jaguar's Castle Bromwich plant in Birmingham will move from a five-day to a three-day week from October until Christmas. Jaguar Land Rover said it was making "temporary adjustments to our production schedules" at the factory. It was standard practice to "regularly review its production schedules to ensure market demand is balanced globally", JLR added.
- There is still some good money to be made from investing in supermarket groups, according to German investment bank Berenberg. The venerable institution understands fears of a ‘bloated market’, given that the listed Big Three food retailers – Tesco (TSCO) Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) and Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) – have all seen their share price soar over the past year. But Berenberg’s analysts, who remain bullish about the sector, reckon there are three key reasons the strong run can carry on for a while yet. First up is that price competition ‘is now normalising’ after several years of price wars. Second, the threat of online is becoming less of an issue for supermarkets. And lastly, High Street retailers such as Poundland are now giving back some of their market share which for years they had pinched from supermarket.
- EasyJet among firms reported to audit watchdog as Big Four dragged into climate change row. Environmental lawyers are demanding answers from the UK’s top financial auditors after reporting four of their clients to the audit watchdog for not properly flagging climate change risks to investors. Campaign group ClientEarth has reported easyJet (EZJ) , Balfour Beatty (BBY) , EnQuest (ENQ) and Bodycote (BOY) to the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) following concerns that they failed to address climate change threats in their latest annual reports, sources told The Daily Telegraph.
- Boohoo raids Primark for new boss with £50m bait. A senior Primark executive has been recruited by Boohoo.com (BOO) , which has promised him a £50 million bonus if he delivers a significant boost to the share price within the next five years. John Lyttle is leaving his role as chief operating officer of Primark to take over the day-to-day running of Boohoo from its founders Mahmud Kamani and Carol Kane in a significant reorganisation of the Aim-listed online fashion retailer.
- Further turmoil for Debenhams as fund-raising efforts are thrown into question. Debenhams (DEB) is facing a battle to hold on to the proceeds from a rescue fundraising, introducing fresh fears about its future. The retailer is hoping to generate as much as £200m from the sale of Danish department store Magasin du Nord to prop up its ailing finances but any deal is expected to face stiff opposition.
- Drax Group (DRX) – Old king coal is back as gas costs rise. High gas prices have triggered a resurgence in electricity generation from coal as it becomes the cheaper option. Britain could see its first increase in carbon emissions in six years if coal-fired power plants continue to undercut gas ones, according to Imperial College London. Coal plants were the biggest source of electricity as recently as 2013 but their share of the energy mix fell precipitously and they supplied less than 7% of UK power last year.
- Horizon sets fresh direction for biotech as US activist investor takes 10% stake. US activist investor ValueAct has doubled its stake in British gene-editing specialist Horizon Discovery Group (HZD) after agreeing a deal to buy the shares from Neil Woodford. ValueAct now owns nearly 10% of Horizon, with Mr Woodford’s stake trimmed to 18%
- Dairy Crest Group (DCG) buoyed by Cathedral City and Clover brands. The country’s biggest dairy company said “strong performances” from both brands meant first-half revenue would be ahead of that posted in the previous year. But with butter prices remaining high, Dairy Crest said it had restricted its promotional spend on Country Life. Demand for Frylight, Dairy Crest’s spray oil, was hit by the unusually hot summer weather.
- Aviva joins opposition to Unilever exit. Another leading shareholder in Unilever (ULVR) has hit out at the consumer group’s plan to relinquish its London headquarters and reorganise its corporate structure as opposition continues to mount before a key vote next month. David Cumming, chief investment officer at Aviva Investors, said that it would be voting against the maker of Marmite’s plan to have its headquarters in Rotterdam.
- Hornby (HRN) shares surge 24% after it signs a deal with Warner Bros. The toy maker will make a range of train and car sets in collaboration with Warner Bros franchises such as Harry Potter and DC Super Heroes. DC Super Heroes cover comic book characters including Batman, Wonder Woman, Superman and the Green Lantern. The toys will be developed under the group’s Hornby Railways, Scalextric and Corgi brands.
