Sunday newspaper round-up: Barclays, Lloyds, Cadbury

8th Nov 2009 08:36

Gordon Brown yesterday threw his weight behind a "Tobin tax" on financial transactions as a way of taxing and reining in the banks, despite warnings that such taxes are unworkable. "We should discuss whether we need a better economic and social contract to reflect the global responsibilities of financial institutions to society," he said at the G20 meeting of finance ministers and central bankers in St Andrews, the Sunday Times reports. The Sunday Telegraph adds that that the US Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner, immediately said America did not back proposals for fees on financial transactions. "A day-by-day financial transaction tax is not something we're prepared to support," he said. France and Germany have traditionally been pro such a global tax. A Financial Services Authority investigation into whether HBOS's former board may have misled investors at the time of the bank's abortive £4bn rights issue last year could "open the floodgates" to hundreds of civil court actions against Lloyds Banking Group, which acquired HBOS in January, according to senior legal sources, the Sunday Independent reports.Meanwhile, Lloyds Banking is being kept afloat with £165bn of loans and guarantees from the Bank of England and other central banks around the world, The Sunday Times can reveal. The bank's reliance on state funding, detailed in a document released last week in connection with a separate £21bn fundraising, gives the first insight into the huge scale of aid extended to banks during the financial crisis.Barclays will this week risk an internal backlash from its staff as it bows to public pressure and pledges to scale back cash bonuses despite reporting near-record investment banking profits. Analysts expect Barclays Capital to pay out £5bn in salaries and bonuses this year but bank executives are preparing to seize the initiative on how bonuses are paid ahead of an anticipated crackdown by the Financial Services Authority , the Sunday Telegraph reports. The Mail on Sunday adds that Barclays is on target to report its biggest profits ever, despite soaring bad debts, figures will show this week. Barclays' third-quarter management statement on Tuesday is expected to show underlying profits for the period at more than £1.5bn - or about £25m every working day. Profits will also be boosted by the sale of fund manager Barclays Global Investors to US finance house BlackRock. The Government is set to hand an expanded role to Britain's nuclear industry and suggest more sites for new reactors as it unveils controversial guidelines for fast-tracking major energy projects through the planning process. Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, will tomorrow reveal his blueprint for the future energy industry in a series of "national policy statements" analysing 11 sites proposed by companies and several more potential locations, the Sunday Telegraph reports. Roger Carr, the Cadbury chairman, will issue a caustic rebuttal to Kraft, the American food group, when it tables a £10bn hostile bid for the Dairy Milk maker tomorrow. Carr is expected to say that Kraft has turned from a "low growth conglomerate" into a "no growth conglomerate" after weak third-quarter results from the company last week, and that there remains no appeal in linking up with it, the Sunday Times reports. More than 16% of shares in British Airways are now on loan to short-sellers, suggesting investors believe that stock in the troubled airline which faces a make-or-break few weeks is still over-valued, the Sunday Independent reports. Britain's supermarket chains have launched the biggest discounting bonanza in years for this festive season, with toys, DVD boxed sets, Christmas decorations, clothes and electricals all on sale more than a month and a half before the big day, the Sunday Times reports.Central London stores are set to get a big boost to sales in the run-up to Christmas, as the weak pound lures in more overseas shoppers keen to cash in on prices that the exchange rate has turned into bargain-basement deals. A forecast from the New West End Company, which represents retailers in Oxford Street, Regent Street and Bond Street, suggests London's premier shopping streets will see a 5-10% year-on-year increase in international visitors over the festive period, the Observer reports. Newspaper publisher Trinity Mirror is joining the list of companies closing their final-salary pension schemes to existing members. The owner of the Daily Mirror and numerous regional titles is entering a two-month consultation with staff after concluding it can no longer afford to support the scheme, the Sunday Times reports. Britain's claim to be a world leader in green energy investment has been called into question by an authoritative new study that will embarrass ministers as they prepare to launch an important climate change initiative tomorrow. A report from Deutsche Bank says that the UK does not have the right climate change strategy to attract international investment and is lagging behind other countries, such as Germany, France and China, the Observer reports.Bank of America Merrill Lynch has replaced Goldman Sachs as a key adviser on the $30bn (£18bn) stock market listing of Russian aluminium giant United Company Rusal. Goldman has worked with BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse and Rothschild on the Hong Kong listing for months. The bank was named as joint bookrunner on the draft prospectus, the document that is used to file a flotation, the Sunday Independent reports.