Below are the key morning and weekend press headlines, featuring the The Times, The Telegraph, The Daily Mail & more - see the full Press section here.
The Monaco family behind some of the tax haven’s most expensive property developments has entered the prime central London market, spending £100 million buying residential property around Mayfair, Knightsbridge and Belgravia. Jacopo Marzocco, 31, who is leading the investment drive, is a third-generation member of the Marzocco family that built the Tour Odéon skyscraper in Monaco, where a penthouse has been marketed for more than £250 million. His company Real Estate, Design & Development (Redd), which develops and manages luxury properties in Monaco, established a London office last year to cater to the needs of the super-rich in Britain. Redd has since built up a portfolio of apartments and mansion blocks in London’s most expensive postcodes, including a £15 million mansion block in Mayfair that was once the headquarters of a Greek shipping dynasty. Lucian Cook, head of residential research at Savills, said: “There’s a growing pool of domestic and international money waiting to exploit a perceived buying opportunity, subject to getting more clarity on what lies ahead politically and economically. Deal or no-deal Brexit, a bottoming-out in the value of sterling should act as the trigger to unlock pent-up demand.”
Openreach has shelved an overhaul of its board amid concerns it would give more sway to the parent company. Mike McTighe, Openreach’s chairman, has been seeking to appoint BT’s strategy chief Michael Sherman as an extra director. He has argued in meetings with industry peers that it would strengthen and speed up decision making as the telecoms sector enters a crucial phase of investment in full-fibre upgrades. However, following protests from Sky and others who rely on Openreach’s network while competing with BT Group (BT.A) , Mr McTighe last week agreed to put the plans on hold for a year in an attempt to build more trust in Openreach.
Some of the City’s biggest investors have thrown their weight behind an ambitious British firm building a high-tech jet engine to fly passengers from London to New York in just one hour at 3,800 mph. The Mail on Sunday can reveal that American activist investor Elliott Advisors and hedge fund tycoon Crispin Odey are among the heavyweights to have ploughed more than £100million into Oxfordshire-based Reaction Engines in a bet that the company will become a pioneer of air and space travel. They join giants of the aerospace industry and under-fire fund manager Neil Woodford on the shareholder register of those taking a long-term punt on the company.
The Hong Kong stock exchange is under pressure to find another £4billion to convince London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) investors to back its takeover bid, it has emerged. Leading shareholders have told The Mail on Sunday that the Hong Kong Exchange and Clearing (HKEX) must sweeten its cash and shares offer, which has already been hobbled by a slump in its share price. HKEX indicated last month it may offer £83 per share – valuing the business at £29.6billion – but the approach was rebuffed by the LSE board. HKEX has until Wednesday to table a formal offer or walk away.
Nurses, teachers and rail workers struggling to find affordable homes could benefit under an innovative scheme from property group Inland Homes (INL) . Its prefabricated two-bedroom units are built at a factory in North Yorkshire then transported on a lorry. Known as Hugg Homes, each one costs £55,000 to build – and is guaranteed for at least 60 years. Annual rents are £8,000 in Southampton but would be around £16,000 in parts of London, providing a tidy income for investors. The well-equipped homes are already generating annual rental income of £500,000 a year for Inland. Its chief executive Stephen Wicks is in talks with the NHS, schools and Network Rail about using surplus land to erect more.
About 300 workers have been let go by Sirius Minerals (SXX) as the North Yorkshire fertiliser mine developer slashes costs to preserve cash. The future of the company and its ambitious mining project were thrown into doubt last month when its $3.8 billion funding plan failed. Chris Fraser, chief executive of Sirius, told The Times that he hoped to carry out an initial strategic review of the project and alternative funding options by the end of this month. One option could result in Sirius trying to raise a much smaller sum to fund construction of what are perceived to be the riskiest parts first, he said.
Simon Townsend, chief executive of EI Group (EIG) , disputed evidence given to MPs that the way pub business rates were calculated was “corrupted” in an attempt to increase rents for giant pub owners. Mr Townsend, 57, was responding to a Treasury select committee inquiry into business rates, the tax on commercial properties. He wrote that “false suggestions” had been made that Ei had played “a major part in the way that the business rates system was agreed, inferring that the system was corrupted”. The disagreement revolves around the calculation of business rates for bars and public houses. The tax is usually based on a property’s rateable value, but in a handful of areas including pubs, cinemas and petrol stations, the tax is linked to a tenant’s turnover.
Vodafone Group (VOD) has begun testing a new technology that could reduce its reliance on Huawei, the Chinese telecoms equipment supplier. The mobile phone giant is experimenting with an open access radio system it has developed with Intel, the American chip giant. The kit standardises the hardware and software used in the masts and antennae that carry calls and data. Vodafone, which is trialling the new technology in Britain, hopes it will loosen the grip of Huawei and Scandinavian rivals Ericsson and Nokia on the market and make it cheaper to build networks in rural areas.
Aston Martin Holdings (AML) is under pressure to shake up its board and bring in directors with more experience at listed companies after a disastrous first year on the stock market. The shares have plunged 74% since it floated a year ago, hammered by weaker demand, supply-chain problems and a profit warning that exposed its debt-laden balance sheet. Some investors are believed to be keen for an overhaul to bring in more support for chief executive Andy Palmer. In an interview with The Sunday Times, Palmer, a former Nissan No 2, said it had been a “torrid year”. “It’s been personally uncomfortable. One year on the FTSE through this [is like] a dog’s year. It’s seven years’ worth of experience.”