WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING
FINANCIAL TIMES
TESCO BANK FACES MORTGAGE DELAY
Tesco faces a fresh delay to the roll-out of Tesco Bank, with mortgages unlikely to be launched until early next year.
Britain’s biggest retailer by sales had been expected to introduce mortgages this autumn but, having bought out Royal Bank of Scotland’s 50 per cent share in their financial services joint venture three years ago, it has experienced teething problems since moving from RBS’s systems to its own.
CHARTER DEFENDS COLFAX BREAK FEE
Charter International, the engineer that has recommended a £1.5bn takeover by Colfax, has defended an arrangement to pay its favoured suitor £15m if shareholders back another bidder. The two parties struck the arrangement just days before the Takeover Panel prohibited such deals.
COGNETAS PORTFOLIO TARGETED
A European financial investor has made a proposal to buy out the portfolio of companies in a fund of private equity group Cognetas. The move emerged only days before an investor meeting on Thursday where Cognetas management aims to present its own plan to restructure the fund, the group’s second, which was set up in 2005 with 1.25bn euros (£900m) in investor commitments.
CROMBIE TO SELL TOMMY NUTTER
Crombie has put up for sale the Tommy Nutter brand, a legacy of the clothing company’s association with the legendary tailor, who dressed a roster of celebrities in the 1960s and 1970s. Crombie, owned by Alan Lewis, the millionaire retail and property entrepreneur, has not put a price on the potential deal which, along with the Tommy Nutter trademark, includes a small collection of original garments and designs sketched by the tailor.
THE TIMES
LLOYDS POACHES TWO MORE EXECS
António Horta-Osório has poached two senior executives from Santander, adding to the bevy of executives that the Lloyds’ chief executive has recruited from his previous employer. Toby Rougier, who oversaw Santander’s deals strategy, and Miguel Ángel Rodríguez Sola, its head of corporate finance, have joined Lloyds from the Spanish bank.
NUCLEAR CHIEF QUITS PUBLIC SECTOR
The former BP executive brought into the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority has quit after less than two years into the post. Tony Fountain, the chief executive, found it hard to adjust to working in the public sector for the state-controlled body, which owns 19 nuclear sites around Britain, including Sellafield. Fountain, the highest paid civil servant, earnt £680,000 including benefits last year.
The Daily Telegraph
SHELL WINS ARCTIC OIL PERMITS BUT WITH ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS
Royal Dutch Shell has moved a step closer to drilling for oil in the Arctic, after US authorities granted it two crucial permits with strict environmental conditions. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded two air-quality permits for drilling ships, clearing another hurdle in Shell’s battle to be allowed to drill in the Arctic.
GOLDMAN DISCOUNTS OCADO’S SHARE PRICE
Goldman Sachs has taken the axe to Ocado’s share price for the second time in as many months after the online grocer warned that sales were slowing. The investment bank, which helped lead Ocado’s flotation in July last year, has lowered its six-month share price target down from 225p to 190p.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
GOOGLE+ SOCIAL NETWORK OPENED TO PUBLIC
Google yesterday broadened its assault on rival Facebook by opening its Google+ online social network to the public. The company also introduced new features to Google+, including the ability to search for information about topics such as cooking and photography, and along with the ability to see relevant Google+ users and their posts.
COURT DELIVERS MIXED YUKOS RULING
Europe’s top human-rights court found Russian authorities violated the rights of OAO Yukos when they broke up the oil giant but rejected the company’s allegation that the actions were politically motivated—a split decision that both sides hailed as victory in their long-running battle in Europe’s courts.