What the other papers say this morning – 24 March 2014
FINANCIAL TIMES
Heseltine takes control of Haymarket
Michael Heseltine has taken full control of Haymarket, the publishing group he co-founded 50 years ago, as it restructures to move its flagship consumer titles online and expand internationally. The 81-year-old former Conservative politician is betting on a recovery in the fortunes of Haymarket, which made a pre-tax loss of £7.6m in the 18 months to June 2013, according to accounts expected to be filed at Companies House this week.
European regulators warn on loans
Debt investors are abandoning normal creditor protections on European leveraged buyout loans as they snap up riskier securities at a faster rate and in greater proportions than at the peak of the credit bubble. Growing volumes of euro-denominated “covenant light” loans have now aroused the interest of European regulators, who are increasing their monitoring of lenders’ behaviour. Nearly €8bn of these “cov-lite” loans were arranged last year, exceeding the €7.73bn peak of 2007, according to S&P Capital IQ.
GE Europe chief wants UK to stay in EU
The head of General Electric’s European business, Ferdinando “Nani” Beccalli-Falco has called for the UK to remain in the European Union and for Scotland to remain a part of the UK. “It wouldn’t be good for England; it wouldn’t be good for Europe,” he said.
THE TIMES
RSE prepares for Easter fundraising
RSA will this week pull the trigger on its emergency cash call to shareholders as Britain’s biggest commercial insurer sets out the terms of its bumper £775m rights issue. Stephen Hester, the chief executive, will release a prospectus for the fundraising in the next few days, in a document that will contain crunch details including the number of old RSA shares to be exchanged for new ones and at what price.
Asda managers face axe
Asda is preparing to announce what are said to be “scores” of redundancies among senior managers in its central and head office functions.
The Daily Telegraph
Small firms urge break-up of Big Six
The Federation of Small Businesses and the consumer watchdog Which? have called for the “Big Six” energy companies to be broken up, adding pressure on regulators to refer the energy companies to competition authorities this week.
The trade group has written to regulators in a joint letter with Which? demanding a full scale competition inquiry into the UK energy market.
Lord Davies to name all-male boards
Fifty British companies are due to be named and shamed for having all-male boards when Lord Davies delivers the annual update of his government-sponsored boardroom review.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
EUROPE
JP Morgan exec in China to retire
One of JP Morgan Chase’s top China executives is expected to resign amid a probe of the US bank’s Asian hiring practices, according to people familiar with the situation. It isn’t known why Fang Fang, who is chief executive for China investment banking and vice chairman of investment banking in Asia, decided to leave the largest US bank after more than a decade.
Turkey shoots down Syrian warplane
Turkey downed a Syrian warplane yesterday for breaching its airspace, escalating tensions along the border as Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan pledged to take a tougher stance.