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.
- Revolt over Unilever (ULVR) move grows. Big shareholder opposed to HQ in Netherlands. A fourth UK shareholder in Unilever has said that it will vote against the consumer group’s proposed move to relinquish its London headquarters. In a blow to Unilever and its boss Paul Polman, M&G Investments has come out against the plan to abandon the company’s 88-year Anglo-Dutch dual governance structure.
- Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) , Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) – Boom time for grocers as heatwave lifts alcohol and food sales. Consumers spent almost £500m more in the 12 weeks to Sept. 9 due to the summer heatwave and the World Cup, boosting British grocery sales up 3.8%. In what was the hottest British summer on record, the latest figures from Kantar Worldpanel show shoppers spent £228m more on alcohol, £178m more on soft drinks and £74m more on ice cream than during the same period last year. Although Tesco (TSCO) remains the UK’s biggest supermarket chain, with a 27.4% share, Asda recorded the strongest performance of the big four grocers, with sales up 3.1%. Discount rivals Aldi and Lidl increased their market share 13.9% and 8.3% respectively over the period, while the Co-op benefited from the summer spending with increased sales of 8.5%, its fastest rate since 2011
- Nestlé, Unilever (ULVR) and Coca-Cola bid for Horlicks. Competition rises to secure GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) prized malted drink brand.
- Rivals’ epic takeover battle for Sky (SKY) heads for nail-biting final episode. The winner of the protracted takeover battle for Sky could be settled under a rapid-fire auction concluding on Sunday night. The Takeover Panel is in discussions with Comcast and 21st Century Fox, its American suitors, over how to draw the final curtain on one of the City’s longest takeover sagas. The fiercely contested battle has transfixed the media industry and minted large profits for some of the hedge funds that have piled into the satellite broadcaster in recent months. Yesterday, Elliott Capital Advisors, the New York-based fund, said that it had built a 4.3% stake in Sky. Odey Asset Management and Blaupost also have loaded up on Sky.
- Spire profits plunge amid NHS squeeze. An “unprecedented decline” in NHS patient admissions is set to dramatically affect earnings at Spire Healthcare Group (SPI) as it posted a massive drop in profits for the first half of the year. Profit before tax at the private healthcare company fell 57.9% compared with the same period last year to £5.1m, largely due to £15.3m of exceptional items. The largest of these was a £12.6m property impairment on its Spire Alexandra hospital site.
- BAE signs £5bn Qatar fighter sale after Liam Fox tells UKEF to back deal. The Government has ordered UK Export Finance to underwrite export sales so BAE Systems (BA.) and other defence companies could seal a massive deal to sell a fleet of warplanes to Qatar. In a £5bn agreement, the Gulf nation is buying 24 Typhoon fighters and nine Hawk trainers from the defence giant, along with a training and support package.
- Rise of the robots drives Ocado’s onward march. Customers signing up for its services and increases in capacity at its automated warehouses have boosted revenue at Ocado Group (OCDO) . The online grocery delivery company said that its revenue had jumped by 11.5% to £348.6m after a sales performance that “most competitors would die for”.
- £5bn insurance deal to trigger £100m payday for bosses at broker Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group (JLT) . The Lloyd’s of London stalwart accepted a takeover offer from Marsh & McLennan (MMC) worth 1915p a share, or £4.9bn. MMC, which is worth more than £42bn, has pledged to pay £100million in retention bonuses to some senior management and staff. But the bumper deal could also see almost 4,000 staff axed.
