Below are the key headlines from the midday updated papers, featuring the Financial Times, The Times, The Telegraph, The Daily Mail & more - see the full Press section here.
BT defies calls to slash dividend and says it can afford fibre rollout. BT Group (BT.A) on Thursday pledged to ramp up its roll out of ultrafast internet, while reining in its sport coverage despite two extraordinary football matches this week. New chief executive Philip Jansen upped BT’s aim to deliver fibre broadband from three million to four million premises by March 2021. And from 10 million to 15 million by mid 2020s as long as regulators play ball by not clamping down on charges. Previous chief executive Gavin Patterson left after an accounting scandal in Italy and faced accusations that he was a marketer good at razzmatazz who focussed on BT Sport when he should have been wi-fi ing Britain.
‘Dogged’ RSA reverses profit hit as chief Hester gets better weather. RSA Insurance Group (RSA) chief Stephen Hester on Thursday said “dogged and determined” action to bounce back from a slump in profits last year had put the insurer on a surer footing. Exits from certain parts of the London insurance market and a management shake-up are slowly turning around Hester’s beleaguered ship after a bad 2018 when profits fell by a third. UK profitability in the first quarter is ahead of target, driven mostly by the mild winter in the UK, and cutting back on lines of commercial insurance in the Lloyd’s market. “When things don’t go as we want we are dogged and determined to take action to put things right and that action is mostly to do with the portfolio,” said Hester.
Morrisons eyes stronger ties with Amazon after Ocado fire. Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) could beef up its tie-up with Amazon after it “relaxed” its exclusive deal for online groceries with Ocado Group (OCDO) , chief executive David Potts said on Thursday. Morrisons agreed to give up using Ocado’s automated warehouse in Erith after a fire at the online grocer’s Andover warehouse left it short of capacity. Ocado currently delivers Morrisons’ online groceries. Morrisons won’t have to pay any fees to Ocado until they resume their relationship in early 2021, potentially boosting the grocer’s profits in the short term. But it also revealed it will no longer have an exclusive partnership with Ocado, which it sealed in 2013. Morrisons delivers its products to Ocado’s warehouses, but its website, picking of orders and home deliveries are based on Ocado’s technology. Potts said: “There was an unplanned fire. We are important partners with Ocado, a win-win negotiation is important.”
Julian Dunkerton can’t stem Superdry’s wave of profit warnings. Julian Dunkerton, the-co founder and reinstated boss of Superdry (SDRY) , on Thursday greeted the City with a fresh profit warning just weeks after he returned to the retailer after an acrimonious row with previous management. The company, whose clothes are favoured by the seemingly disparate camps of “cool dads” and teenagers, said that pre-tax profits would be lower than analysts’ forecasts — the third time the business has sounded the alarm in the past year. The City had been expecting full-year underlying profits of up to £59.4 million, but weak wholesale and online sales triggered the alert. Superdry will reveal its final full-year results in July. Despite this, and a 4.5% fall in revenues for the quarter to April 27, Dunkerton put on a brave face today: “Without dwelling on the past, this is why I had to come back in. I’m incredibly positive.”
Derwent London boss John Burns leaves on a high with lettings growth. Veteran developer John Burns looked set to end his 35-year tenure as Derwent London (DLN) chief executive on a high, as he on Thursday defied Brexit gloom with a record quarter in the capital. Burns, who steps down next week after 35 years at the helm, said the company is in “fantastic shape” ahead of Britain leaving the EU. The FTSE 250 firm has agreed £17.2 million of lettings in the year to date, at rents more than 6% ahead of December estimates. New tenants include data group G-Research. Despite a backdrop of political turmoil at Westminster, Burns said: “We had an exceptional first quarter — it was a record. There is very good demand for quality space and firms are still expanding. Since the EU referendum we have done about £95 million of lettings.”
Kingfisher boss given £200,000 pay rise despite profits halving. Kingfisher (KGF) has awarded outgoing boss Veronique Laury a 12% pay rise after taking a “holistic” approach to her bonus targets despite sliding profits at the DIY retailer. Ms Laury, one of just six female FTSE 100 chief executives, announced in March she would be leaving the business halfway through her transformation strategy. Despite a 53% slump in pre-tax profits to £322m, her total pay for last year still increased from £1.6m to £1.8m. Kingfisher slightly increased Ms Laury’s basic pay to £795,8000 while she was awarded a £522,000 bonus, 2.3% lower than year, and £333,7000 worth of shares.
HSBC and StanChart face fresh threat as China’s tech giants land banking licences. Asia-focused banking giants HSBC Holdings (HSBA) and Standard Chartered (STAN) are set to face fresh competition after China’s two biggest companies landed a virtual banking licence in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) said on Thursday that it had awarded units of Tencent and Alibaba banking licences so that the technology giants can now set up virtual banks. The Hong Kong market is currently dominated by traditional lenders such as HSBC and Standard Chartered, but analysts predict billions of dollars to go into the pockets of online rivals now the market has opened up.
Barratt Developments (BDEV) was the top riser on the FTSE 100 after it said that its margins were improving and annual profits would be moderately above previous expectations. Britain’s largest housebuilder said that it was making progress on margin improvements having slimmed down its product range from 300 homes to about 80 homes over the past three years. This contrasts to the wider sector, which is seeing margin pressure generally. Sales rates for the year to date have held up with 0.79 home sales per site per week, compared with 0.8 over the same period last year. Forward sales were up 2.4% at £3.4 billion. David Thomas, chief executive, said: “Trading since the beginning of the year has been strong. The outlook for the year is modestly ahead of our previous expectations and we are encouraged by our continued progress in driving operating efficiencies through the business.”