Below are the key morning press headlines, featuring the The Times, The Telegraph, The Daily Mail & more - see the full Press section here.
Donald Trump has signed the first phase of a new trade agreement with China after two years of tension between the two superpowers that have rattled economies around the world. Trump said: “Today, we are taking a momentous step towards a future of fair and reciprocal trade. Together we are righting the wrong of the past.” “At long last Americans have a government that puts them first at the negotiating table,” he said. “This is the biggest deal anybody has ever seen.” Trump and China’s chief trade negotiator, Liu He, signed the deal at a packed press conference, attended by Ivanka Trump, much of Trump’s cabinet, Henry Kissinger, and media and business leaders including Stephen Schwarzman, the chairman of Blackstone, and Ajay Banga, the president of Mastercard. The signing came hours after Democrats named the team that will prosecute Trump in an impeachment trial that starts early next week. - The Guardian
Persimmon (PSN) said yesterday that it was about to break the £1bn profit again, despite additional spending on building quality and customer service. The company, which became the first housebuilder to break the billion-pound profit barrier in February 2019, said that it expected to report pre-tax profits in line with the market consensus of £1.04 billion, down from £1.09 billion a year earier. The new-build housing market remained buoyant last year, with cheap mortgages and the government’s Help to Buy scheme supporting purchases. Taylor Wimpey, a rival housebuilder, said on Tuesday that it had sold a record number of homes last year and at higher prices, with consumer sentiment “surprisingly robust”. Persimmon said that it was selling homes at a later stage of construction to improve quality and customer service. A £1.5 million review of its operations, commissioned by the company last year, criticised a corporate culture that had resulted in “poor workmanship” and “potentially unsafe” homes. - The Times
Tullow Oil (TLW) shares dropped although the trading update had few real surprises sent it plunging into the red. Scrapped exploration projects, a lower assumption about what oil prices will be in the long term and a re-evaluation of how much oil is at some of its sites in Ghana mean it will take a one-off hit of £1.2billion in its 2019 results. It has also had to suspend a pilot project in Kenya because heavy rain at the end of the year destroyed roads that led up to it. The £1.2billion blow comes after a horrific year for Tullow, when its shares lost almost two-thirds of their value, a vaunted discovery off the coast of South America turned out to be a dud and chief executive Paul McDade made a hasty exit. But, as Bank of America put it, this was an update with ‘no new shocks’. SP Angel analysts believe the £1.2billion write-down ‘will have been expected’, but that the massive drop in its share price could now make it a takeover target. - The Mail
Vistry Group PLC (VTY) said yesterday that it was set to report record annual profits. Vistry said that it expected to deliver annual profit slightly ahead of a previous forecast of £186.1 million after selling more homes and benefiting from lower costs. In a year-end trading update, the company said that home sales in 2019 had risen by 3% on 2018’s total to 3,867. Building cost savings and a lack of cost inflation helped to improve its operating margin. The average selling price of its homes was £279,000, up from £273,200 a year earlier. “We have a strong forward sales position and trading has been very positive, with consumer confidence returning and industry fundamentals remaining strong,” Vistry said. It expects to report a net cash balance of £362 million, up from £126.8 million a year earlier. That includes the proceeds of a £150 million placing in November to raise funds for the acquisition of Galliford’s housing division. - The Times
Greggs (GRG) sausage rolls are to be delivered to homes across Britain after the bakery chain struck a deal with takeaway company Just Eat (JE.) . The delivery service is launching in Birmingham and Bristol this week, before expanding to Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield and Nottingham during the spring. Bakery chain Greggs – which has enjoyed surging popularity after it launched a vegan sausage roll last year – narrowed its choice of partner down to three contenders over a series of trials in London, Newcastle and Glasgow before choosing Just Eat. The companies said they hoped to go nationwide by the end of 2020. Customers will be able to order the chain’s bakery goods, breakfast products and sandwiches via Just Eat’s app, as the delivery chain expands beyond the takeaway restaurants that have long been its core offering. - The Telegraph
Quiz (QUIZ) announced another drop in sales. The fashion chain, which has 73 shops and 170 concessions, revealed a 9.3% fall in sales over the seven weeks to January 4. That, in turn, pushed the shares down to 15½p, meaning that the company has lost more than 90% of its value since being floated on the stock market two and a half years ago. The retailer, which issued three profit warnings last year, said that trading had “softened” since Black Friday. Sales at its shops fell by 7% during the period, while online sales were down by 14.8% after Quiz severed ties with third-party websites, having decided that they were unprofitable. The group reassured investors that it had a “strong” balance sheet with a £10.7 million net cash position. - The Times
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) shares slid after Barclays warned that the stock could nearly halve in value this year. Analysts there think that pressure on net interest margins has been “underappreciated” by investors, particularly if the Bank of England goes ahead and cuts interest rates this month. There is also Brexit. The number-crunchers think that the risk of no-deal is yet to be eliminated and could lead to a “material de-rating” of RBS’s shares. - The Times