WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING
THE SUNDAYS
The Sunday Telegraph
DSG CHAIR ABANDONS CRYSTAL BALL
The outgoing chairman of DSG International, the Currys owner, has described the reduction in the retailer’s market size as “painful” and admitted he failed to see the downturn coming. Sir John Collins said he told John Browett, the electrical retailer’s chief executive, not to worry about the prospect of a recession.
HBOS FACES £450M HIT OVER KEMSLEY
The collapse of the former Apprentice star Paul Kemsley’s property empire could cost HBOS almost £450m after his company’s directors warned they have been unable to attribute a “realisable” value to its assets. Kemsley, also a former vice-chairman of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, is an associate of Mike Ashley, Sir Philip Green, and Sir Alan Sugar.
THE SUNDAY TIMES
FORTE SWINGS BACK INTO ACTION
Sir Rocco Forte will this week open his £120m golf and spa resort in Sicily – seven years after he first had the idea. After a long bureaucratic battle, Forte hopes the first foray into luxury resorts for his private business will help boost turnover from £165m to £195m this year. Since he launched the firm 13 years ago, he has restored the fortunes of a host of once-famous grand hotels.
CANDOVER FACES DEBT TALKS OVER DX SERVICES
The struggling private equity company Candover has been forced into costly restructuring negotiations over the debts of its mail delivery business, DX Services. The buyout group and its banks are discussing a range of options likely to lead to a dilution of Candover’s majority stake in DX.
TODAY
FINANCIAL TIMES
WALL ST PROFITS ON FED TRADES
Wall Street banks are reaping outsized profits by trading with the Federal Reserve, raising questions about whether the central bank is driving hard enough bargains in its dealings with private sector counterparties, officials and industry executives say. The Fed has emerged as one of Wall Street’s biggest customers during the financial crisis, buying massive amounts of securities to help stabilise the markets.
GOLDMAN SACHS LOSES LUSTRE
Goldman Sachs’ reputation among both the general public and financially sophisticated Americans has been damaged by the events of the past year. A survey of 17,000 Americans, found Goldman’s stature had suffered in 2008 and 2009.
The Daily Telegraph
COMPANIES IN TOXIC DEBT LIMBO
Companies whose debt is declared “toxic” and is placed in the Asset Protection Scheme (APS) have been described as the “forgotten victims” of the bank rescue because they are trapped in a “restructuring limbo”, unable to reconstruct their balance sheets to invest in growth and jobs. Private equity houses claim to have been contacted by directors who want to write down some of their debt and inject equity into the business, but cannot negotiate with their lenders because of confusion and inertia over the APS.
BATTERSEA REFIT PLANS LODGED
The planning application for the £4bn redevelopment of Battersea Power Station has been informally submitted to Wandsworth Council, with hopes rising that the latest proposals could be given the green light.
THE TIMES
BIBBYLINE CONSIDERS OPTIONS
Bibby Line Group, which owns a 51 per cent stake in Costcutter, is this week considering whether to make an improved offer for Nisa-Today’s, Europe’s largest independent supermarket buyers’ group. The Liverpool-based company launched a takeover approach last week for Nisa-Today’s, a mutually owned organisation, whose board rejected the bid.
VIRGIN MEDIA MULLS UK LISTING
Virgin Media is considering a secondary listing in London to end the mismatch between its stock market listing in the US and its geographic operations in the UK. The broadband and pay-television group, which is quoted on the US Nasdaq exchange and is worth $3.7bn (£2.2bn), has been reviewing its listing as it examines its capital structure with an announcement possible this month.