What the other papers say this morning – 11 February 2014
FINANCIAL TIMES
Woodford puts name to new fund
Neil Woodford, one of Britain’s most successful fund managers, will pin his own name to his asset management venture, according to Companies House filings. Woodford Investment Management has been set up at the same address at Oakley Capital, the firm Mr Woodford is joining in May after he leaves Invesco Perpetual.
Pescanova in talks with creditors
Spain’s Pescanova has entered into talks with more than 100 creditor banks in a bid to save the stricken frozen fish group from liquidation and prevent the biggest industrial collapse since the start of the Spanish economic crisis. The Pescanova board wants banks to accept a cut of 70 – 80 per cent on loans worth a total of €1.8bn (£1.5bn), but says its proposals have been rebuffed. It is now racing to meet a 3 March deadline, the last day on which proposals to resolve the debt stand-off can be tabled to the bankruptcy court.
Small businesses relaxed on EU exit
Britain’s small businesses are not concerned at the possibility of the UK leaving the EU, their main lobby group has said. “Currency union or membership of the EU are not the issues which keep our members awake at night,” said Colin Borland from the Federation of Small Businesses.
THE TIMES
Lush scents victory in Amazon battle
Amazon and other online retailers could be forced to stop promoting alternatives to products they do not sell after the High Court ruled that the American company was riding “roughshod over intellectual property rights”. In what lawyers called a landmark case, the court found that the world’s biggest online retailer had infringed the trademark of Lush cosmetics company.
Middle-aged boost renting ranks
Tenants aged over 30 increased by 5.8 per cent last month compared with the same period last year, Countrywide has reported. They now account for 59.3 per cent of all renters.
The Daily Telegraph
Migrants work more than Brits: Reding
European migrants are more likely to work harder than their British counterparts, a senior Brussels official has claimed. Viviane Reding – a Commission vice-president who was visiting London yesterday to debate the EU with foreign office minister David Lidington – said that more EU migrants were “economically active” than British nationals.
BMG buys Beyonce song publisher
BMG, the music licensing group owned by the media giant Bertelsmann, has bought Talpa, a publisher with rights to songs by Beyonce.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Nokia releasing first Android phone
Nokia plans to release this month a smartphone that runs a version of Google’s Android mobile software, according to people familiar with the matter, as it concludes the sale of its handset business to Microsoft.
BMW says 65,000 want plug-in cars
BMW’s US sales arm has a list of 65,000 people interested in the company’s new i3 and i8 plug-in models, about six times the number for a similar launch in the past, the company’s North American marketing vice president Trudy Hardy says.