WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING
FINANCIAL TIMES
TARGETFOLLOW SEEKS MPS’ HELP
The owner of a large property portfolio that includes the Centre Point tower in London has enlisted the help of his local MPs to stave off administration after loans of more than £200m provided by Lloyds expired on Thursday. Targetfollow, the Norwich-based property developer managed by Ardeshir Naghshineh, has been locked in talks to extend its debt, which totals almost £700m.
FAROE SHARES JUMP 23 PER CENT ON DISCOVERY
Shares in Faroe Petroleum jumped 23 per cent after the Aim-quoted explorer announced its second North Sea discovery this year. The company, focused on the Norwegian North Sea and areas around the Faroe and Shetland islands, said the find at its Maria South well contained up to 520m barrels of oil equivalent.
DIGITAL AD BOOST FOR NEW YORK TIMES
The New York Times yesterday reported its first rise in quarterly revenue since 2007 as double-digit gains in digital advertising helped offset a continued slide in print ad revenue. The publisher, which owns the eponymous paper, as well as the Boston Globe and the About.com website, is looking to new digital businesses to replace revenues from an improving, but still weak market in print advertising.
VOLVO WOULD BE HAPPY TO SEE BRAKES PUT ON CHINA’S GROWTH
Volvo, the world’s second-largest truckmaker, would welcome a slowdown in the Chinese economy and other emerging markets amid concerns over possible overheating, according to the Swedish company’s chief executive. Leif Johansson said Volvo would have preferred “a little less growth” in large developing countries during the second quarter.
THE TIMES
EAST LONDON IS NEXT STOP FOR PARISIANS
Weeks after Deutsche Bahn bought up 20 per cent of the London bus market, Paris’s largest public transport company is planning to trump it with a deal to become the capital’s premier red bus operator. RATP is understood to be in pole position to buy the East London Bus Group, which until recently was owned by Australia’s Macquarie but is now controlled by its lenders.
JAGUAR STRIKE THREAT AFTER STAFF REJECT PAYOFF TERMS
Two thirds of Jaguar workers have rejected the company’s proposals to limit voluntary redundancy terms, raising the prospect that strike action will disrupt production next month. The vote by 350 workers came after Tata agreed to sell the facility for £15m.
The Daily Telegraph
NO MONEY LEFT TO DEFEND BRITAIN FROM EVERY THREAT
Britain cannot afford to protect itself against all potential threats to its security, Liam Fox, the Defence Secretary, has warned. In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, he said the dire state of the public finances meant the Armed Forces could no longer be equipped to cover every conceivable danger.
SCOTLAND ON THE BRINK OF A DOUBLE DIP RECESSION
Scotland’s economy is teetering on the brink of a double-dip recession and the number of companies going bust has reached record levels, official figures have revealed. There was zero Scottish growth in (GDP), which measures national wealth, during the first three months of this year despite Britain as a whole recording a 0.3 per cent increase over the same period.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
WHITE HOUSE TO ALLOW TAX CUTS FOR WEALTHY TO EXPIRE
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said the Obama administration will allow tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans to expire on schedule despite calls from a small but increasingly vocal group of Democrats to delay any tax increases. Geithner said the White House will allow taxes on top earners to increase on 1 January 2011, as part of an effort to help bring down the mounting budget deficit.
MOTOROLA’S SUIT POSES CHALLENGES FOR HUAWEI’S SUCCESS
Motorola’s lawsuit against Huawei Technologies alleging a plot to steal the US company’s trade secrets could complicate years of largely successful efforts by the Chinese telecommunications-equipment giant to demonstrate itself as an innovator in the industry.