WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING
FINANCIAL TIMES
CROP SQUEEZE TO LIFT ORANGE JUICE PRICE
The price of orange juice will rise in coming months as Brazil’s citrus crop, the world’s largest, sees its worst harvest in seven years because of bad weather and diseases, according to Cutrale of Brazil, the leading orange juice producer. Orange juice is a $20bn industry with prices affecting farmers in Sao Paulo and Florida, processors, trading houses and bottlers such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi.
GOLDMAN STUNG BY BACKLASH IN CHINA
Public criticism of Goldman Sachs has come to China, where the investment bank has been lambasted in articles in state-controlled media. Parts of the media, apparently emboldened by congressional inquiries and public anger in the west, have openly slated Goldman, arguably the most successful foreign investment bank in China.
HBOS MANAGERS TO SURVIVE UNIT SALE
Bankers at a private equity arm of HBOS that made heavy losses will continue to manage its assets after an anticipated £500m sale of the unit’s investments by Lloyds Banking Group. In a deal expected to be agreed later this month, Coller Capital, the private equity firm, will take a stake of about 60 per cent in the portfolio.
FORMER POLAR CAPITAL TRADER RAISES $200M FOR HEDGE FUND
Julian Barnett, the 33-year old star hedge fund trader who left London hedge fund manager Polar Capital a year ago, has raised $200m (£138m) for his new venture, Ridley Park Capital. Barnett’s flagship fund launched at the beginning of May. Ridley Park Capital has been one of the most anticipated start-ups.
THE TIMES
INQUIRIES MOUNT AFTER PWC ‘FAILED TO NOTICE’ MISTAKES
PricewaterhouseCoopers is facing an inquiry by accounting regulators into its failure to notice that JP Morgan was paying up to £16 billion of clients’ money into the wrong bank accounts. Last week the Financial Services Authority fined the investment bank £33.3 million — the largest penalty that the City regulator has imposed — for breaches of client money rules.
BLACK IS BACK IN FASHION AT CONRAN SHOP
Sir Terence Conran is set to make a profit from his obsession with good design for the first time in a decade. The Conran Shop, which he established in 1973 as a more adventurous cousin to his Habitat chain, is expected to break into the black after years of losses.
The Daily Telegraph
CHOCOLATE LOVERS HIT BY RISING PRICE OF COCOA AS DISEASE BLIGHTS CROPS
Most chocolate lovers will never have heard of swollen shoot viral disease. But this nasty complaint is blighting the crops of thousands of cocoa growers in the Ivory Coast – by far the world’s biggest exporter. This single African country accounts for almost 40pc of the 3.5m tonnes of cocoa that end up as plastic-packaged chocolate bars.
FASHION RETAILER EAST BACK IN THE BLACK THANKS TO BETTER SALES AND COST CUTTING
East, the bohemian fashion retailer in which former Channel 4 chairman Luke Johnson has a stake, has moved back into the black due to improved sales and cost cutting. The chain made pre-tax profit of £2.1m over the year to January 31.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
AUSTRALIA LAUNCHES PROBE INTO GOOGLE’S STREET VIEW
Australia launched a police investigation Sunday into whether Google illegally collected private information from wireless networks, becoming at least the second country to probe the Internet giant’s Street View mapping service. The Australian criminal investigation comes as more regulators and consumers watchdogs complain that Google doesn’t take people’s privacy seriously enough.
PROPOSED EISAI CHEMOTHERAPY DRUG HELPS TREAT ADVANCED BREAST CANCER
A new type of chemotherapy drug being developed by Japanese pharmaceutical company Eisai helped women with advanced breast cancer live longer than women treated with standard cancer therapies, according to new research.