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.
Advent, the American private equity giant attempting to buy Cobham (COB) is ready to commit to protect British jobs and investment as it seeks to allay concerns over its £4 billion takeover of the defence and aerospace company. Amid fears that a sale to private equity runs the risk of a further sale and possible break-up of a key British industrial asset in a few years’ time, it is understood that Advent International will promise the government that it will maintain UK employment at current levels at least, invest in research and development in Britain and keep the Cobham brand. Advent will also commit to keeping Cobham’s various “sector headquarters” around southeast England and East Anglia. Advent secured support from Cobham investors for the proposed purchase last month, but it is subject to a review from competition regulators concerning national security implications.
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) could slash its investment bank to a third of its current size in the New Year as it reviews the business under incoming chief executive Alison Rose, sources close to the company say. The bank is next week expected to reveal profits fell 25% to £720 million in the third quarter as PPI claims surged ahead of the final deadline in August. Sources told The Mail on Sunday that NatWest Markets faces cuts because its returns are weaker than other divisions. The unit was blamed for billions of pounds of bad debts in the financial crisis. It made huge losses on risky mortgage deals and the taxpayer had to hand over £45.5 billion to bail out the bank. NatWest Markets made profits of £3.7 billion in 2007, but last year made a loss of £70 million.
Metro Bank (MTRO) is debating whether to continue funding chairman Vernon Hill’s £120,000-a-year expense allowance into 2020, meaning the troubled firm could carry on paying for the multi-millionaire’s lifestyle even after he leaves. The Telegraph has learnt that the bank is choosing whether to cut off Mr Hill’s £10,000-a-month expense budget in December when he steps down as chairman and quits Metro’s board, or to hold off until March when his contract officially ends. A decision has not yet been made.
Anglo American (AAL) is pushing ahead with its biggest project in more than a decade. The mining group has already spent more than $100 million diverting the Asana river through a 7.5 kilometre tunnel deep within the mountain to make way for its Quellaveco mine. It will cost at least $5 billion for the mine to reach full production. First copper is due in 2022 and at peak it will produce 330,000 tonnes a year of the red metal, which is forecast to be in increasing demand globally. Anglo plans to hollow out this valley over three decades to some 400 metres below the old riverbed. The vast pit will measure 900 metres deep and should yield 1.3 billion tonnes of Anglo’s prize: copper-rich ore.
One of the property tycoons behind the One Hyde Park development in London’s Knightsbridge is considering a takeover bid for Capital & Counties Properties (CAPC) the company that owns Earls Court and Covent Garden. Nick Candy, 46, who developed Qatari-backed One Hyde Park with his brother, Christian, is understood to have held early-stage talks with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund about a joint move on Capco, run by Ian Hawksworth. Capco has been mired in a dispute with Labour-led Hammersmith & Fulham council over its plan to build thousands of luxury homes at Earls Court. This led to its chief investment officer, Gary Yardley, being unofficially banned from the town hall. Yardley left Capco in June. The company has announced its intention to demerge its holdings in Earls Court and Covent Garden, flushing out various bids. Olympic Village owner Delancey, chaired by former British Land boss Sir John Ritblat and run by his son, Jamie, is understood to be in competition with Canary Wharf to buy Earls Court.
Thousands of investors could be left nursing heavy losses after the boss of Sirius Minerals (SXX) suggested the company may be better off quitting the stock market. Chief executive Chris Fraser said being a publicly-listed company was useful at the beginning when it wanted to be transparent about its plans to build a £4billion fertiliser mine under the North York Moors national park. But he complained that attacks from hedge funds, bad publicity and its failure to raise money from big investors such as pension funds meant it was no longer as helpful to be a listed company.
Britain’s biggest logistics company has entered the race to buy scandal-hit trucking firm Eddie Stobart Logistics (ESL) . Wincanton (WIN) , which oversees goods warehouses for some of the world’s best-known brands, is running the rule over Eddie Stobart and its asset, it said in a short statement on Friday. A formal offer is yet to be made. The announcement raises the prospect of a bidding war with Eddie Stobart’s second-largest shareholder DBAY Advisors, which was this week given more time to review the lorry company’s books after expressing interest in a deal. DBAY must submit an offer by Oct 28. Andrew Tinkler, the former chief executive of Stobart Group, dropped out of the running to buy the firm on Wednesday.
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) has accelerated its push into online by deepening its ties with Amazon and sealing a tie-up with Deliveroo to launch a hot-food delivery service this month. David Potts, chief executive of Morrisons, told The Times in his first interview since he took the job, that its “Morrisons at Amazon” service, which offers one-hour deliveries, was in eight cities and would be in twenty by the end of the year. The Morrisons boss also revealed that the supermarkets group would open a store in Canning Town in east London at the end of the month with a new Market Kitchen service, so that hot food could be delivered to local customers through Deliveroo. He said that the ultra-fast service had proved popular with customers.
Civil unrest in Hong Kong and the trade war between the United States and China have dragged down revenues at InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) . The owner of Holiday Inn yesterday reported a 36% slide in revenue per available room — or revpar, the key industry metric — in Hong Kong during the three months to the end of September. This dragged down revpar in its Greater China division by 6.1% for the quarter.