Monday newspaper round-up: Royal Bank of Scotland, Cadbury, Ryanair

18th Jan 2010 06:36

Top institutional shareholders claim they have not been consulted about the bonus payments at the Royal Bank of Scotland.The shareholders - who say that ministers and regulators have been privy to talks while they have been "left in the cold" - may demand to scrutinise the plans ahead of a meeting of the bank's remuneration committee this week. The intervention would come amid renewed political and public anger at the size of bankers' bonuses, the biggest of which are expected to be announced by Wall Street banks this week, the Telegraph reports.The Treasury last night urged restraint by investment banks over bonuses as four US financial groups prepare to reveal pay awards, which could top $100bn (£61.5bn). A spokesman for the Treasury said: "We would prefer that they didn't pay these large bonuses. We'd like to see a behavioural change at the banks," adding: "This year, the only reason for their profits is from state support of the banking sector," the Independent reports.The Government faces a new offensive against its bonus tax after several frustrated figures at leading brokerages said that they were still unclear whether they would be hit, more than a month after the Chancellor unveiled the tax. At least one is considering toughing it out with HM Revenue & Customs by not paying the tax, the Times reports.Britain is in danger of becoming the "bankruptcy brothel of the world", it was claimed yesterday, as furious creditors prepared a landmark legal challenge over the country's largest pre-pack administration. Bertrand des Pallières, who saw the entire investment of SPQR Capital, his hedge fund, wiped out in the pre-pack of Wind Hellas, the Greek telecoms group, in August, criticised the English courts for allowing foreign companies to move to the UK and exploit the controversial restructuring tool, the Times reports.The board of Cadbury is preparing for a fight to the death with Kraft as the American food group puts its finishing touches to an improved takeover bid. Insiders said that Kraft was still debating late into last night whether to launch its new offer today or tomorrow and what the final price should be. Kraft is expected to raise its shares-and-cash hostile bid from 771p per Cadbury share to between 820p and 830p, valuing the chocolate company at between £11.3bn and £11.4bn, up from an existing offer of £10.5bn, the Times reports.BT moved closer to launching a price war with BSkyB, saying it could undercut the subscription for Sky's sports channels by £10 a month. It added 2010 was a "crossroads" for TV in the UK. Marc Watson told The Independent after he became head of BT's TV operation last July that he wanted to bring Sky Sports to BT Vision customers at a lower price. The group has now revealed it plans to charge £15 a month for Sky Sports 1, compared with the £25.50 that Sky currently charges.In a two-page letter to the OFT's chief executive John Fingleton, copied to The Independent, Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary said his airline wished to register its "deep concern and protest" about "inappropriate and inaccurate comments" given by Mr Fingleton in an interview with this newspaper. "The false claims attributed to you in this article are indicative of a continuing and inappropriate bias by the OFT against Ryanair, which is the UK's largest international passenger airline," Mr O'Leary wrote.A three-year drought in UK technology stock market flotations is poised to come to an end this year, as a number of companies prepare to go public. Promethean, the Blackburn-based provider of electronic whiteboards and interactive learning systems for schools, looks to be the first to list, with an announcement expected next month. Promethean, which is expected to be worth £400m ($650m) to £500m, has appointed Gleacher Shacklock as a financial adviser and Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan as global co-ordinators.Sophos, the Oxford-based internet security group, is also planning to list. Sophos, which is backed by TA Associates, the private equity firm, tried to list in 2007 but aborted plans after its valuation fell short of expectations, the FT adds.The New York Times is preparing to become the latest newspaper to charge its readers to access its website. The newspaper is expected to announce the introduction of a so-called "pay wall" before the much-rumoured launch of Apple's new tablet computer, which is thought to be specially designed for easy newspaper reading, on January 27. Sources close to Arthur Sulzberger Jr, chairman of The New York Times, said the paper would make a decision on charging within the next few days, the Telegraph reports.Britain's inflation surge, to be revealed in figures this week, will be short-lived, according to a new forecast from the Ernst & Young Item club, which works with the Treasury model. Figures on Tuesday are set to show a sharp rise in inflation to 2.7%, from 1.9% in November. The rate is predicted to rise further this month as a result of the return of Vat to 17.5% and could prompt an open letter from Mervyn King, the Bank of England governor, to Alistair Darling, the chancellor, the Times reports.The legal battle between Apple and Nokia intensified at the weekend when the Californian iPhone maker began legal proceedings to block Nokia from importing its mobile phones into the US. Nokia, the world's largest mobile phone maker, said it would "vigorously" defend itself against Apple's latest move in the long-running legal battle, the Telegraph reports.London will thrive as a financial centre over the next decade by becoming the natural western hub for emerging market growth, according to one of the City's best-known hedge funds. In stark contrast to bankers' doom-laden predictions about the City's imminent demise and defections of hedge funds amid movement of some staff to Switzerland by prominent funds such as BlueCrest Capital and Brevan Howard, Toscafund is convinced that the growth of the Bric nations - Brazil, Russia, India and China - can only work to London's advantage, the FT reports.