WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING
THE SUNDAYS
The Sunday Telegraph
£5.5BN PLAN FOR POWER STATION
A £5.5bn planning application, the largest ever in central London, will be made today when Ireland’s Real Estate Opportunities and Treasury Holdings reveal their blueprint for the redevelopment of Battersea Power Station. Plans for the mixed commercial and residential site, which developers say will be as iconically significant as the Sydney Opera House and the Guggenheim in Bilbao, will be formally submitted to Wandsworth Council with influential backing from key London power brokers.
AUDITOR’S WARNING FOR TCHENGUIZ
Property entrepreneur Robert Tchenguiz saw his investment vehicle R20 crash to a £31.4m loss last year and carry a “going concern” warning from its auditors.
THE SUNDAY TIMES
BATTLE TO SAVE ALEXANDER LEBEDEV’S TIMAN OIL & GAS
Investors in an oil company controlled by Alexander Lebedev, the Russian oligarch who owns London’s Evening Standard newspaper, will this week call for an emergency meeting in a last-ditch effort to stave off liquidation. Lebedev’s National Reserve Bank seized shares in Timan Oil & Gas this summer after boss Alexander Kapalin defaulted on a loan backed by his stake in the London-listed oil group.
BUYOUT TALKS FAIL AT PUB CHAIN REGENT INNS
THE future of Regent Inns, the debt-laden pub chain, which employs 2,000 staff, is in doubt after a management buy-out collapsed on Friday.
The group’s bank consortium, led by HSBC, is now hoping it can persuade a trade buyer to acquire the business.
TODAY
FINANCIAL TIMES
ICBC TO RAISE ROLE IN CREDIT SUISSE VENTURE
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC)is expected to expand its share of a fund management joint venture with Credit Suisse. The move may bode ill for foreign groups in the fund management sector, the one part of China’s mostly closed financial system that has been relatively open to outside investors
TORIES TO SCRAP BBC CHARTER
The Conservatives would reverse two of the main proposals in the government’s Digital Britain bill and are considering plans to rip up the BBC’s royal charter, according to the Tory shadow culture secretary. Jeremy Hunt said a Tory government would scrap a proposed 50p a month tax on all telephone lines, “as soon as possible” after the election.
The Daily Telegraph
GERALD RONSON CUTS OWN PAY FROM £12.9M TO £1.7M
Gerald Ronson, the property entrepreneur, has slashed his pay package and dividend at Heron International following the collapse in the commercial property market. According to the 2008 accounts of Heron International Holdings, just filed at Companies House, Ronson received £1.67m in pay, compared to £12.89m in 2007.
BARCLAYS OFFERED JOBS TO LEHMAN BROTHERS EXECUTIVES
Barclays offered “lucrative” jobs to executives at Lehman Bros handling the cut-price sale of assets to the bank after the collapse of the US investment bank, according to documents filed with a US bankruptcy court. The offer raises questions about the “arms length” nature of the deal, states evidence filed by Lehman that consists of information gleaned from emails.
THE TIMES
E.ON CONDEMNS OVERAMBITIOUS TARGETS FOR GREEN ENERGY
Government plans to generate 30 per cent of UK electricity from renewable sources by 2020 are doomed to failure, according to the chief executive of one of the world’s biggest utility companies. Wulf Bernotat, chief executive of E.ON, said that British politicians needed to stop misleading the public about what was achievable.
ROLLS-ROYCE ENGINE TAKES NEXT STEP TOWARDS TAKE-OFF
The US Air Force has approved Rolls-Royce to move to the next phase in developing a jet engine capable of high performance but with low operating costs. The Pentagon’s decision to proceed with phase two of development of the Adaptive Versatile Engine Technology (Advent) is seen as a huge boost for Rolls-Royce in the lucrative American military market.