WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING
FINANCIAL TIMES
MORRISON COOLS INTEREST IN IRELAND
Wm Morrison’s interest in Iceland Foods is cooling, raising doubts about whether Britain’s fourth biggest supermarket chain by market share will mount a £1.5bn bid for the frozen food specialist. Morrison was one of the companies expected to make an offer for Iceland Foods, for which second round bids are due to be submitted at the end of the month.
GM IS URGED TO SHIFT CHEVROLET OUTPUT
Opel’s workers are urging General Motors to shift more production of its Chevrolet brand’s cars to Europe as the German-based carmaker and its staff puzzle over ways to restore the unit’s profitability. Opel will soon begin talks with its workers on implementing and accelerating a restructuring plan introduced two years ago under which carmaker’s staff agreed to shoulder cost savings worth €265m a year through 2014.
LIONS GATE TO OFFER FACEBOOK FILM RENTAL
Lions Gate will be the first movie studio to include Facebook rentals in a home entertainment launch of a national feature film when it releases Abduction today. The use of Facebook to release the movie – on the same day that it will also be sold on DVD, Blue-ray and digital download – demonstrates a confidence in the group’s ability to generate unique online video rentals in the critical early weeks of a home release.
BAE LOOKS ABROAD TO SAVE JOBS
BAE Systems, Europe’s largest defence contractor, is in talks with Brazil and Turkey, to secure orders for the company’s most advanced warship in the hopes it could save its UK shipyards from closure. BAE is reviewing its business in light of cuts in UK defence spending,
THE TIMES
CREDITORS FORCE EQUINOX CAPITAL INTO LIQUIDATION
The founder of the shirt retailer Thomas Pink and HM Revenue & Customs have forced an investment company run by a former Goldman Sachs banker into liquidation. The Companies Court yesterday agreed an application from HMRC and the entrepreneur Peter Mullen to order the compulsory winding up of Equinox Capital.
SAUDI ARABIA LIFTS OIL TARGET TO STABLE $100 A BARREL
Motorists, families and businesses are unlikely to enjoy a respite from high fuel prices after Saudi Arabia said that it wanted to keep oil at $100 a barrel. The world’s largest exporter of crude – and the only “swing” producer truly capable of bringing prices down – had targeted a $75 price in November 2008.
The Daily Telegraph
FACEBOOK TO FLOAT IN THIRD WEEK OF MAY
Facebook is expected to make its long-awaited initial public offering (IPO) in the third week of May, according to US reports. The social networking website, which is renowned for how closely it guards its financial performance, will have to divulge key figures in IPO documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) within the next month, if it is to meet that target.
KPMG EARNS £6.4M FEES FROM CONNAUGHT COLLAPSE
The lucrative fees available to administrators of failed businesses have been laid bare after KPMG disclosed that it has already earned £6.4m handling the collapse of Connaught, the social housing contractor. The scale of the fees were in documents filed at Companies House.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
JET RIVALS KEEP A TIGHT RACE
Airbus is expected to unveil blowout order numbers for last year, likely setting an industry record for jets sold in one year and potentially booking almost twice as many orders as Boeing Co. But beneath the rivals’ lopsided tallies, the competition is much tighter. Airbus, a unit of European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co., booked strong sales of its small, single-aisle A320, while Boeing logged the best year to date for its long-range, two-aisle 777.
JET DRIVE TO SPLIT CEO, CHAIRMAN ROLES GAINS STEAM
A group of experienced corporate chairmen is stepping up its drive to split the roles of chairman and chief executive at U.S. public companies by drafting and pushing a model board policy. The effort comes from the Chairmen’s Forum.