WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING
FINANCIAL TIMES
RISKY DEBT USE ON REPO MARKET HITS 2008 LEVELS
The use of lower-rated debt in a key US funding market has returned to pre-crisis levels, fuelling fears that the so-called shadow banking system is becoming riskier. The repo market is an important part of the shadow banking sector, which consists of unregulated financial institutions and activities.
ROYAL CARIBBEAN CRUISES WARNS IN AFTERMATH OF CONCORDIA DISASTER
Royal Caribbean Cruises yesterday became the first operator to reveal a full and detailed impact of the Costa Concordia disaster on its bookings, saying first-quarter earnings per share could be 20-60 per cent lower than expectations. The statement came after Carnival, whose subsidiary Costa Crociere operated the Costa Concordia, said in a regulatory filing on Monday that in percentage terms its bookings were down in the “mid-teens”.
INDIAN COURT REVOKES 122 MOBILE PHONE LICENCES
India’s congested telecoms market is poised for a shake-up after the 122 mobile telephone licences awarded in 2008 by Andimuthu Raja, the country’s fomer telecoms minister, were cancelled in a surprise move by the supreme court.
QUINN FAMILY IN CHALLENGE TO ANGLO
The family of bankrupt Irish businessman Sean Quinn has alleged that Anglo Irish Bank lent them more than €2bn (£1.7bn) to prop up the company’s share price illegally. In a preliminary court hearing in Dublin yesterday, lawyers for Quinn’s wife and children challenged Anglo’s claim that they owe the money and should pay it back. The lawyers also accused Anglo of “serious illegal activity on a persistent and ongoing basis”.
THE TIMES
ASDA PROPERTY CHIEF HEADS FOR THE DOOR IN NEW SHAKE-UP
Asda has parted company with its retail development director in a further sign of upheaval at the supermarket. The property and retail development unit, which acquires sites for new stores, is being overhauled and its leader, Steve Masters, and Bob Simpson, the director of sustainable development, are leaving.
RUNNING WITH THE NEW LEADERS AT FITNESS FIRST
The Fitness Industry Association vowed to work with new management of the world’s biggest fitness club operator after a brutal boardroom clearout by its private equity owner. Almost the entire board of Fitness First was axed by BC Partners this week in an attempt to stem potential losses of hundreds of millions of pounds on its investment.
The Daily Telegraph
CAIRN INDIA BOSS NETS £6.6M IN SHARE SALE
Rahul Dhir, chief executive of oil and gas producer Cairn India, has netted 512.68m rupees (£6.6m) by selling half of his stake in the company, ahead of receiving another round of stock options. Mr Dhir sold 1.5m shares between 30 January and 1 February, with shares worth 339 rupees at close yesterday. He is expected to become eligible to exercise options to by 2.24m shares in the next two months.
PHYSICAL BOOK SALES NOSEDIVE
The number of paperback books sold in the UK has slumped dramatically since Christmas due to the increasing popularity of e-readers. Sales of printed novels over the first four weeks of 2012 fell by a over a million copies compared to the same month a year ago, according to industry figures seen by The Daily Telegraph.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
CHINA REINFORCES ENERGY SUPPLIES
A unit of China National Petroleum agreed to buy a big slice of a shale-gas play in Canada from Royal Dutch Shell, bolstering Beijing’s footprint in North America’s energy patch, as two other Chinese firms sealed energy deals in the US and Europe. PetroChina said that it bought a 20 per cent stake in Shell’s Groundbirch natural-gas development in British Columbia.
EGYPT RIOT STOKES ANGER AT POLICE
Police fired tear gas at thousands of protesters who flooded Egypt’s capital last night to vent rage at security forces who they blamed for negligence in allowing at least 74 people to be killed in a football-match riot. Demonstrators filled the streets surrounding Cairo’s fortress like Ministry of Interior, chanting against Egypt’s interim ruling military regime.