Sunday newspaper round-up: AstraZeneca, Ukraine, Tax cuts

20th Apr 2014 19:53

In recent weeks, Pfizer has held informal conversations with British rival AstraZeneca about a possible takeover by the US drugs giant, according to senior investment bankers and industry sources. With 50,000 employees worldwide the UK outfit, Britain's tenth largest company, might be valued at over 60bn pounds. However, AstraZeneca is thought to be resisting and no talks are under way. The American company has 42bn pounds of cash on hand at overseas subsidiaries. A purchase abroad would allow it to avoid having to repatriate those funds, which would result in a colossal tax bill, according to The Sunday Times.A shoot-out took place early Sunday morning at a roadblock outside the eastern Ukrainian city of Slovyansk - a focal point of the pro-Russian separatist movement. The event marks the first bloodshed since the agreement reached just last Thursday, between Ukraine, Russia, the US and the European Union, to de-escalate the situation. One person was killed and three wounded. Ukraine later said the pro-Russian militants had the support of armed officers from Russia's military intelligence, The Wall Street Journal Europe reports.By the time Britain's next elections roll around the country's yearly economic output will be 2% higher than the peak reached before the financial crisis. That means that the Chancellor will be left with sufficient margin for tax cuts worth up to £7bn, the latest forecasts from the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), to be released on Monday, will show. That would boost disposable incomes by a further 0.75%, The Sunday Times says.Over the last year, 26 of Europe's largest lenders shut or sold 5,300 branches, figures compiled by Reuters show. That pace is set to accelerate as clients continue to transition towards speedier digital services from face-to-face contact. Consultancy Bain&Co. estimates that as many as 40% of Europe's bank branches are expected to close between 2013 and 2020. That would amount to a reduction of 65,000 branches across the European Union, The Scotsman says.An oil explorer founded by Frank Timis is considering moving its stock market listing to Oslo, from Australia. Shares of the company, African Petroleum, have gyrated wildly in Sydney, although a core of institutions which have backed Timis up in the past have done well from doing so. Four years ago he was barred from listing the West Africa-focused exploration outfit in London. The entrepreneur was previously also the Chief Executive of Regal Petroleum. The firm was hit by a huge fin in 2010 for misleading investors about an oil find in Greece, writes The Sunday Times.Since the Current Account Switch Service was launched last September all banking providers have seen a steady stream of customers come and go. Santander, however, has seen significant net gains versus competitors, snapping up one in five switchers. Halifax and Nationwide were the other biggest winners. The biggest losers, according to the TNS Current Account Switching Index, were high street banks Barclays, NatWest, HSBC, Lloyds Bank and TSB, The Mail on Sunday reports. Action groups representing disgruntled investors who were impacted by the RBS rights issue carried out in April 2008 have issued a final call to join the legal battle. That comes as tens of thousands of ordinary investors - many of whom are pensioners - have only a few days left to decide on whether to back legal action, The Mail on Sunday says.Royal Bank of Scotland may take legal action against Lawrence Tomlinson. He was behind the damning report accusing the lender of having systematically pushed small business customers to the point of financial collapse so as profit from it. Tomlinson was acting in his capacity of advisor to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. The results of a subsequent investigation by law firm Clifford Chance found "no evidence" to back up the most serious accusations. They did however question several aspects of the way in which RBS had treated SMEs, according to The Sunday Telegraph. AB