Below are the key morning press headlines, featuring the The Times, The Telegraph, The Daily Mail & more - see the full Press section here.
One of Britain’s biggest infrastructure projects is set to be rescued after Anglo American (AAL) made a £386 million proposal to buy Sirius Minerals (SXX) , the North Yorkshire fertiliser mine developer. The mining group yesterday revealed that it was “in advanced discussions with Sirius” over a possible all-cash offer at 5.5p a share. It said that the company’s Woodsmith polyhalite mine, under construction near Whitby, “has the potential to become a world-class, low-cost and long-life asset”. The potential deal is a lifeline for the project and hundreds of workers, but would crystallise heavy losses for many shareholders in Sirius, including about 85,000 retail investors who have seen shares change hands for as much as 37p only two years ago as it struggled to secure funding.- The Times
Topps Tiles (TPT) has blamed falling sales on political and economic uncertainty prompting a dwindling of consumer confidence. In the three months to 28 December, the tile group’s like-for-like sales slipped by 5.4%, but started to recover after the general election. Topps Tiles saw its share price take a battering in November when it first revealed the extent of the pre-election impact on trade. Analysts at Liberum slashed their forecast for Topps Tiles’ annual pre-tax profits by 10% after the November update. - The Mail
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) sales dropped in the run-up to Christmas as it suffered a hit from poor toy sales at Argos and sought to blame jittery consumers. Sales at stores open more than a year excluding fuel fell 0.7% for the 15 weeks to Jan 4, worse than analyst estimates, despite a strong performance by the company’s online and clothing arms. General merchandise sales declined 3.9% as the demand for toy and gaming products at Argos, which Sainsbury’s owns, was lower than a year earlier. Chief executive Mike Coupe said investment in digital was paying off, with more than a fifth of sales made online in the quarter. He added that consumers were put off by uncertainty as political turmoil raged ahead of the general election. - The Telegraph
The telecoms regulator has called on BT Group (BT.A) to commit to accelerating the introduction of faster broadband networks after it issued long-awaited proposals to increase competition in the industry. Ofcom yesterday launched a consultation on plans to encourage investment in full-fibre broadband infrastructure as it seeks to meet Boris Johnson’s election pledge to connect all the country’s homes “to gigabit speeds” by 2025. The consultation, which ends in April, will regulate BT’s Openreach broadband infrastructure network for the five years from April next year. The plans include loosening the regulation of wholesale charges to reduce the costs of building new fibre networks in rural areas and measures to manage the switch from the slower, old copper networks to full fibre. The measures were welcomed by BT, the government and rival networks, such as Virgin Media, and alternative networks, the so-called altnets, such as CityFibre Infrastructure Holdings (CITY) , which is backed by Goldman Sachs.- The Times
Greggs (GRG) has doled out a one-off £7m bonus to staff after bumper sales of its vegan sausage roll sent revenue surging. The bakery chain posted a 9.2% rise in sales at stores open for more than a year, bucking a wider slowdown on the high street and beating expectations. The firm has now dished out £300 to each of its 25,000 staff. Roger Whiteside, chief executive, said: “We’ve never done it before, I can’t imagine we will ever do it again. It’s not a regular thing, although we might have another exceptional year so never say never.” He added that Greggs has been sharing 10% of its profits with staff each year. - The Telegraph
The boss of Shoe Zone (SHOE) has lambasted the prime minister’s efforts to cut business rates for small companies as “shameful” and “total rubbish” and has warned of more shop closures unless the system is properly overhauled. Anthony Smith claimed that despite Shoe Zone having 300 fewer stores than a decade ago, its business rates bill had jumped by £700,000 to £11.1 million as the retailer pays more than half its total rent bill in rates.- The Times
Avacta Group (AVCT) is to collaborate with Korean pharmaceutical company Daewoong to develop stem cells that can treat auto-immune and inflammatory diseases. These therapies will use tiny proteins Avacta has been working on, which make medicines more effective when they are administered. Avacta will own 45% of the venture, which will be fully funded by Daewoong. - The Mail
Ted Baker (TED) bankers have appointed advisers to review the prospects for the business amid fears that the fashion chain will be forced to raise cash. A consortium of four major lenders to the company, understood to be Santander, HSBC, Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland, have hired the advisory firm FTI Consulting, which has previously worked with lenders to troubled high street businesses Debenhams and New Look as well as the collapsed Thomas Cook. FTI is expected to take several weeks to conclude the business review that could result in Ted Baker’s lenders tightening the terms on which they provide debt to the retailer, according to Sky News, which first reported the appointment. The review raises fears for Ted Baker, which is thought to be close to reaching the ceiling on its borrowing agreements for £180m of debt after a difficult period of trading. In October, debts were £130m and since then trading has been poor. - The Guardian