WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING
FINANCIAL TIMES
FOXCONN LOOKS TO AN AUTOMATED FUTURE WITH 1M ROBOTS BY 2013
Foxconn, the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer by revenue, plans to have as many robots as workers in its China factories within three years, according to Terry Gou, chairman and chief executive. Foxconn, China’s biggest employer, produced Apple’s iPad and other electronic gadgets. The group currently employs 1m workers but has just 10,000 robots on its production lines.
TEENAGER CHARGED WITH LULZSEC HACKING ATTACKS IS RELEASED ON BAIL
A British teenager charged with a range of hacking offences as part of the Metropolitan Police’s investigation into Anonymous and Lulz Security was released on bail yesterday. Scotland Yard officials allege that Jake Davis, using the online nickname Topiary, is among the leaders of LulzSec, an online group that has claimed responsibility for dozens of cyberattacks in the past two months.
CONSUMERS FIND FUNDS TO SAVE MORE
Households are putting more money aside in tax-free savings accounts than ever before, despite rising domestic bills and stagnant wage growth. The number of active Individual Savings Accounts (Isas), rose to 15.3m in 2010-11, the highest figure since Isas were first launched in 1999, according to FT analysis of data from HM Revenue & Customs.
POUNDLAND TO TACKLE EUROZONE DISCOUNT SECTOR WITH IRISH STORES
Poundland, the discount retailer that has grown rapidly on the high street in recent years, is poised to become the first of the UK’s growing ranks of pound stores to expand abroad. It will open six stores in Republic of Ireland.
THE TIMES
KRAFT TAKES ON THE CHALLENGE OF FUNDING CADBURY PENSION DEFICIT
Kraft Foods has agreed to a nine-year funding plan to top up Cadbury’s deficit-stricken pension scheme. The American group confirmed last night that it had agreed to underwrite the scheme’s deficit and had already made the first payment of £30m, with payments to be made until 2019.
STORES’ SALE SAVES ONE IN TEN JOBS AT TJ HUGHES
Nearly 450 jobs at TJ Hughes have been saved after a buyer was found for four of the shops owned by the discount department store chain. The administrator Ernst & Young said yesterday that Lewis’s Home Retail, a homewares company that is part of the online retail company Benross Group, had bought TJ Hughes’ flagship store in Liverpool and sites in Eastbourne, Glasgow and Sheffield.
The Daily Telegraph
ULTRA ELECTRONICS DEFY CUTS WITH PROFIT RISE
Ultra Electronics, the engineering company which specialises in sensors and defence equipment, turned in a 23 per cent rise in first-half profit and said it plans to expand through acquisitions this year, despite delays and cuts to defence orders in the US and UK. Pre-tax profit rose to £43.9m in the six months to 1 July, up from £35.7m the previous year.
UK STORES BOOSTED BY CHINESE SHOPPERS
Chinese tourists have been on a spending spree in British shops, helping to boost the profits of department stores and luxury goods retailers, fresh figures have shown. Analysts said the weak pound, the strength of the UK luxury goods retail scene and the rise of the Asian middle class combined to see a surge in tourist spending.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
COURT THROWS OUT CONVICTIONS IN GENRE-AIG CASE
A federal appeals court yesterday threw out the 2008 criminal convictions of four former General Re Corp. executives and an American International Group Inc. ex-executive stemming from a high-profile trial over a reinsurance transaction that prosecutors said masked a drop in reserves at AIG. The US Second Circuit Court of Appeals ordered a new trial for former Gen Re chief executive Ronald Ferguson and the four others.
CNN’S MORGAN TRIES TO FEND OFF SCRUTINY
CNN said it is standing by television host Piers Morgan amid growing media scrutiny over his past as a tabloid editor in the UK, where a widening scandal over reporting tactics has led to a re-examination of the tabloid newspaper industry.