Below are the key morning press headlines, featuring the The Times, The Telegraph, The Daily Mail & more - see the full Press section here.
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) cast uncertainty over the banking sector yesterday by swinging to a loss and reporting higher-than-expected bad debts. The bank took a £900 million charge for mis-selling payment protection insurance, at the higher end of a range it gave last month, raising fears that other banks’ provisions could be heavy. RBS’s pared-down investment bank also dragged down the group, posting a loss of £193 million after core income fell by 44%. Overall the bank made a pre-tax loss of £8 million in the three months to September 30, compared with a pre-tax profit of £961 million in the same period last year. It posted £213 million of impairments, which was above expectations. Barclays (BARC) reports its quarterly results today, with all eyes on the performance of its investment bank after Jes Staley, its chief executive, took direct control of the division in March. HSBC Holdings (HSBA) , run by interim chief executive Noel Quinn, reports on Monday and Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) on Thursday next week.
Barclays (BARC) has scrapped controversial plans to prevent customers withdrawing cash from post offices after an outcry by MPs and consumer groups. The reversal comes after Barclays was ordered to appear before a Commons committee to explain its earlier decision and after the intervention of John Glen, economic secretary to the Treasury. The high street lender said that it had been “persuaded to rethink” a plan to discontinue services at post offices from January. It has now committed with 27 other lenders to a three-year agreement giving its customers access to cash via the Post Office network.
AJ Bell (AJB) has pulled in 34,154 customers over the last year as it steps up its battle with Hargreaves Lansdown. The investment platform, which is run by founder Andy Bell, bumped up its customer numbers by 17% in the year to September 30. The amount of money it looks after for savers climbed by 13% to £52.3billion as investors piled £5.4billion into AJ Bell’s platform to buy funds and shares. The increase came as AJ Bell’s biggest rival, Hargreaves Lansdown, was caught up in the scandal engulfing Neil Woodford after years of backing the troubled stock picker’s funds.
AstraZeneca (AZN) has hiked its sales forecasts for the second time this year amid booming demand for its new medicines. The pharmaceuticals group said a surge in third quarter revenues was down to the success of its cancer drugs and a strong performance in China. It said revenues rose to £5billion in the three months to September, up from £4.2billion the previous year and higher than the £4.6billion predicted by analysts. Astra credited its performance to new medicines such as cancer treatments Tagrisso and Lynparza, with sales jumping by 62% to £2.1billion overall.
Petro Matad Ltd. (MATD) soared after tests at one of its wells showed there was more oil there than expected. The results from Heron-1 mean the Mongolia-focused group can move from being an oil explorer to a producer. AIM-listed Petro Matad will study the test data and prepare an application to the Mongolian government for a licence to produce oil. If it is successful, Petro Matad can start bringing in revenue for the first time.
Britain is an increasingly attractive place to do business, with few regulatory delays and relatively little red tape, according to the World Bank. The UK climbed to eighth place in the annual rankings, up from ninth a year ago and overtaking Norway to reinforce its credentials as an attractive location for businesses and entrepreneurs. Top of the annual rankings are New Zealand, Singapore and Hong Kong. Denmark, South Korea, the US and Georgia are also ahead of Britain in the assessment of 190 countries. The report tracks regulations, administration and barriers to establishing and running businesses, urging Governments to cut red tape to boost enterprise, employment and living standards.
Next (NXT) shoppers will be able to buy a mobile phone or renew their O2 contracts while shopping for clothes and homeware. The high street bellwether, which has around 500 stores, has opened two O2 stores on Friday in Next shops in Warrington and Southampton, with two more to follow next month in Swindon and Nottingham. The tie-up with the network provider comes as a string of retailers strive to find the best use for their space and attract more shoppers to their sites. Next already has similar tie-ups with coffee chains Costa and Cafe Nero, stationery firm Paperchase, travel agents Virgin Holidays and Tui, furniture maker Hammonds, make up seller Inglot and pasta bar Gino D’Acampo.
The competition watchdog has launched an inquiry into Ovo Energy’s £500 million acquisition of the domestic supply arm of SSE (SSE) . Ovo would take on SSE’s 3.5 million household customers in addition to the 1.5 million it already supplies. The Bristol-based company, which employs about 2,000 people, would also take on 8,000 SSE staff. The inquiry, will consider whether the deal is likely to result in a substantial lessening of competition within any market in the UK. If it finds that this is a risk, it could then launch an in-depth inquiry, with the potential to delay or even derail the deal.
Fortress Investment Group is understood to be the frontrunner to acquire a package of about 150 leased and tenanted pubs from Marston’s (MARS) for an estimated £45 million. Marston’s put the bottom-end pubs up for sale through Christie & Co as part of a debt reduction strategy. In January it outlined a plan to cut its £1.4 billion of net debt by £200 million by 2023, partly through “disposal of £80-£90 million of certain non-core assets”. In a recent year-end trading update, Ralph Findlay, the chief executive, said Marston’s was increasing its disposals guidance for the current financial year from £40 million to £70 million.