WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING
FINANCIAL TIMES
N IRELAND’S ECONOMIC WOES BOOST TERROR GROUPS, WARN OFFICIALS
The parlous state of Northern Ireland’s economy is acting as a recruiting sergeant for dissident republican groups, senior police and security figures warned, raising questions about the pace of spending cuts in the region. The province’s power-sharing executive has been told to find savings of £1.6bn during four years, while David Cameron has said that he wants to reduce its huge reliance on public sector jobs.
INVESTORS WARN ON BRIBERY ACT DILUTION
Any dilution of the Bribery Act would be bad for Britain’s reputation as a centre for investment, according to some of the world’s largest institutional shareholders. In a letter to Jeremy Heywood, the Downing Street permanent secretary, the International Corporate Governance Network has asked for reassurance that the act will be implemented.
WORKSPACE AND BLACKROCK IN £100M PROPERTY JOINT VENTURE
Workspace Group, the London property company, is to establish a £100m joint venture with BlackRock, the fund manager, to buy high-yielding property in areas of the market ignored by many real estate investors. Workspace typically buys then turns former industrial and office buildings into more modern premises.
COST-CUTS BEHIND REXAM GROWTH
The chief executive of Rexam said the consumer packaging company behind Carlsberg and Ref Bull cans was set to become “boringly predictable” again following a difficult period that forced it into a £350m rights issue. Cost cutting helped Europe’s biggest maker of beverage cans lift annual underlying operating profits by a fifth.
THE TIMES
BBC CHIEFS STILL COLLECTING BONUSES DESPITE BAN
The BBC is still secretly paying hundreds of thousands of pounds in bonuses to executives, despite a public pledge that it would scrap them. A number of top managers have received payments totalling nearly £500,000 in the past two years as part of ongoing contracts.
ESPORTA IN PLAY AS RIVALS SHOW INTEREST
The French bank that owns the Esporta health club chain is understood to be considering its options for the business after receiving unsolicited approaches from rival operators. Interest in the Société Générale-owned chain is believed to have been sparked by the bank’s decision last autumn to test the water on a possible £200m sale and leaseback of 17 of Esporta’s tennis-based clubs.
The Daily Telegraph
FED MEMBER CALLS FOR WALL STREET BANKS TO BE BROKEN UP
Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank President Thomas Hoenig has called for Wall Street’s financial giants to be broken up to avoid another another crisis. “I am convinced that the existence of too-big-to-fail financial institutions poses the greatest risk to the US economy,” Hoenig said. “They must be broken up.”
F1 TO LOSE $100M FROM BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX CANCELLATION
Formula One is expected to lose around $100m (£60m) in revenues due to the cancellation of the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, according to new data. Information from F1’s trade guide, Formula Money, show that the teams are expected to lose an estimated $40m from missing Bahrain, with Ferrari set for the biggest fall at $11m.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
GOLDEN SHARE AN OPTION FOR EADS
Germany’s government is weighing a variety of ways to preserve its influence at Airbus parent EADS, including a partial purchase of Daimler AG’s stake in the European aeronautics company or creating a so-called golden share, but faces numerous hurdles in pursuing any of them. The German cabinet met yesterday to discuss how to remain a counterweight to French power at EADS.
GOOGLE PENALISES OVERSTOCK FOR SEARCH TACTICS
Google has penalized Overstock.com in its search results after the retailer ran afoul of Google policies that prohibit companies from artificially boosting their ranking in the Internet giant’s search engine. Overstock’s pages had recently ranked near the top of results for dozens of common searches.