WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING
THE SUNDAYS
The Sunday Telegraph
FUND CHIEF SLAMS OFWAT
One of Britain’s leading investors in the UK’s water industry has said that Ofwat is “dysfunctional” and should be merged with the electricity regulator, Ofgem. Neil Woodford, leading fund manager for Invesco Perpetual, said that the water regulator did not understand the equity market and that billions of pounds worth of investment capital was at risk because of its behaviour.
GMG REJECTS BIDS FOR RADIO ARM
Guardian Media Group has rejected two approaches for its loss-making radio arm, GMG Radio, the home of Smooth Radio, Real Radio and Rock Radio. The owner of the Guardian has rebuffed interest from Northern Irish broadcaster UTV and Orian Media, the West Midlands radio group. Both are understood to have made approaches.
THE SUNDAY TIMES
EASYJET ROW OVER PILOT’S TEA LEAVES PLANES AT GATE
A decision to stop giving pilots free tea and coffee may be partly responsible for the slump in Easyjet’s punctuality this year. the free tea – now reinstated – was one of the issues thrashed out in talks between the airline and Balpa, the pilots union, in an attempt to fix Easjet’s poor time-keeping.
DESMOND SLAMS ITV ‘ARROGANCE’
Richard Desmond has drawn up a five-year, £1bn turnaround plan for TV channel Five that aims to double its market share and provide advertisers with a stronger alternative to “arrogant and monopolistic” ITV. The Daily Express owner, who paid £104m to take control of Five on Friday, thinks if the channel is successful it could provide a launch-pad into American television.
TODAY
FINANCIAL TIMES
PIRAEUS BANK TO BOOST CAPITAL
Piraeus Bank, a private Greek lender that barely scraped through the European stress tests, is planning to raise fresh capital later this year. A capital increase of at least €1.1bn would be linked to an offer by Piraeus last week to acquire two loss-making state-controlled Greek lenders – Agricultural Bank of Greece and Hellenic Postbank.
WYLIE’S SPLIT WITH PUBLISHER SEEN AS BAD OMEN
The severing of ties between publisher Random House and Andrew Wylie, one of the world’s most powerful literary agents, left many executives fearing the showdown over e-book rights would lead to the death of the 500-year-old publishing business as it is known.
The Daily Telegraph
NORWAY TO BUY STAKE IN REGENT ST
Norway’s sovereign wealth fund is in the running to buy a stake in Regent Street, one of the world’s most famous shopping destinations and a prized asset of the Crown Estate, The Daily Telegraph understands. The Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global is one of a small number of potential partners, mainly sovereign wealth funds, that have expressed an interest in acquiring a share of the £1.6bn asset.
LEGAL FIGHT LOOMS FOR FORD
Ford is facing a legal battle in the UK over the pension rights of thousands of workers who transferred to collapsed car parts group Visteon. In a letter, lawyers for trade union Unite criticised Ford for providing “misleading” advice to employees who moved from the company to Visteon in 2000.
THE TIMES
BOSS QUITS AT HARRY’S POLO SPONSOR
The chief executive of Asprey, the royal jeweller, has left part-way through a turnaround. Robert Procop, 51, has left after two years with the Bond Street retailer, which was rescued from insolvency by Sciens Capital and Plainfield Capital, the investment firms, in 2006. Procop had joined to lead the group through “a transitional phase” and his contract had ended, the jeweller said.
SANOFI PLOTS $16BN BUY
The French drugs giant Sanofi-Aventis has made an informal bid approach to Genzyme, the American biotech firm, in the latest big takeover move in the pharmaceuticals industry. Shares in Genzyme, which is listed in New York, surged 15 per cent on Friday as rumours about the approach circulated. The company is valued today at $16.7bn (£10.8bn).