Below are the key morning headlines from today's papers, featuring the Financial Times, The Times, The Telegraph, The Daily Mail & more - see the full Press section here.
- The bosses of Britain’s top housebuilders have cashed in £300m worth of shares between them over the past year.
Berkeley Energia Limited (DI) (BKY) founder and chairman Tony Pidgley has sold £65m of shares in the last 12 months. Berkeley’s chief executive Rob Perrins has cashed in £37m. Steve Morgan, founder and chairman of Redrow (RDW) , sold shares worth £76m.
- Sainsbury (SBRY) and Asda could have to dispose of stores in up to 300 locations across Britain if the two grocers are to succeed in convincing regulators to approve their proposed merger.
In a sign of the potential regulatory challenge facing the companies, an analysis by The Times and industry bodies using modelling techniques typically employed by the Competition and Markets Authority shows that there are at least 300 catchment areas where the merger could run into local competition concerns.
- Business leaders are more pessimistic about the outlook for the economy than at any point this year, polling suggests.
Concerns over Brexit negotiations, rising interest rates and trade tensions have contributed to the downbeat mood, according to the Institute of Directors.
- Shareholder payouts have hit a new record as global dividend payments inched towards the $500bn mark, according to a new study.
Investors around the world enjoyed a 13pc increase in dividends for the three months to June after only a handful of companies, including European banks Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse as well as French energy giant EDF, decided to cut their shareholder payouts for the period.
- Controversial Ukrainian Victor Pinchuk closing in on bid for UK oil and gas firm Regal Petroleum (RPT) . Ukrainian billionaire Victor Pinchuk is understood to be behind an investment vehicle called Kelda that has bought 24 per cent of Regal Petroleum, a gas firm with assets in Ukraine that is listed on London’s AIM market.
