Sunday newspaper round-up: Hollande, BT, Facebook

6th May 2012 12:05

John Lewis Partnership, the employee-owned retailer behind John Lewis and Waitrose, is exploring opening shops in China, a move which would mark its first foray outside the UK. Charlie Mayfield, chairman of the partnership, recently visited the country on a mission focused on sourcing products, visiting rival retailers and spending time with potential customers. Although no firm decision has been taken, Mr Mayfield told The Sunday Telegraph that he was attracted by the rate of growth in the country, "partly as a result of the economic challenges in the UK". However, he stressed that if the retailer were to open stores in the country, it was unlikely that they would be identical to the John Lewis British customers know.The European Union's top economic official has called for a new European investment pact, in the latest sign Brussels is preparing to reconcile Angela Merkel's austerity drive with the growth agenda of French presidential favourite François Hollande. Olli Rehn, EU Commissioner for Economic Affairs, made the call in a speech on "restoring growth in Europe", on the eve of Sunday's French presidential election. Mr Hollande remains favourite to oust Nicolas Sarkozy, curtailing the "Merkozy" partnership that has so far steered Europe's drive for austerity. Officials are preparing for Mr Hollande to travel to Berlin to meet Angela Merkel for the first time, when he will urge the German chancellor to refocus the economic agenda on growth, The Sunday Telegraph reports.Two of Aviva's largest shareholders have called on incoming chairman John McFarlane to replace chief executive Andrew Moss at his earliest convenience. The pair, two of the company's top-five investors, told The Sunday Telegraph that last Thursday's near-59% vote against the insurer's pay report was a protest against Mr Moss. Mr McFarlane, who takes over as chairman from Lord Sharman in July, is understood to be ready to poll Aviva's leading shareholders on the reasons behind the protest. Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, is due to this week hold a meeting with chief executives and chief investment officers of the UK's biggest pension funds at which he will detail revised plans for binding votes on executive pay.Alex Salmond will launch his party's campaign for Scottish independence later this month claiming he is still on track in his efforts to win secession from the UK following last week's local government elections. Despite the disappointment of failing to capture Glasgow, the SNP came out fighting yesterday saying their "unprecedented" feat of winning the largest number of councillors was a resounding victory, and the party's best ever result in local government. With party insiders determined to show that the drive to independence still has political momentum, senior sources insisted the SNP's status as an election-winning force remained intact and would be proven in the forthcoming Yes campaign, according to Scotland on Sunday. David Cameron faces the biggest threat to his leadership since entering Downing Street as senior Tories demand he asserts authority over Nick Clegg by dumping Liberal Democrat-driven plans for Lords reform from the Queen's speech this week. After both coalition parties suffered a drubbing in Thursday's council elections, leading Conservatives are warning that, unless Cameron breaks free of the Lib Dem agenda and spends time on issues that matter to ordinary people, party unity will disintegrate and support for the coalition could collapse. The warnings come as Cameron and Clegg prepare to renew their coalition "marriage vows" at an event on Tuesday, insisting that, despite policy differences between them, the two parties must continue to work together for the national interest, The Guardian reports.For Catherine Howarth, "it's been a totally fabulous week". The chief executive of campaign group Fair Pensions, which has long toiled to persuade City investors to rein in the worst excesses of British listed companies, the unprecedented wave of investor rebellions over recent days represents nothing less than a revolution. "There's this really long history of shareholders being unwilling to use the powers they have. The fact that this is changing at the moment is really something to celebrate," she says. Paul Hewitt of investor lobby group Manifest describes it as a "shareholder spring". Just weeks after the Occupy protesters were chucked out of the City, the sharp-suited fund managers who picked their way through the tents to get to their desks each morning have staged their own protest against fat-cat capitalism. On Thursday alone, five companies felt the wrath of investors and suffered revolts over their pay policies, The Guardian writes. Telecoms giant BT is expected to announce plans to increase its dividend policy when it reports a rise in profits on Thursday. City analysts reckon BT could hike its payout to shareholders by a third over the next three years as it continues to improve margins and cut costs. The announced half-year dividend was up 8 per cent. Chief executive Ian Livingston cheered the City in February when he said BT would reach £6bn profit before exceptional items, known as Ebitda, in 2012 - a year sooner than planned, The Independent on Sunday says.Private equity-owned firms are the worst at settling their bills quickly, adding to the pressure on small companies already crippled by banks' unwillingness to lend. The revelation that more and more big companies are extending the time they take to pay suppliers comes as business insolvencies rose to 4,303 in the first quarter of 2012, up 4.3% on the corresponding period last year. Late payment of bills is frequently blamed as a contributing factor. While small business owners are reluctant to name and shame late payers for fear of losing valuable contracts, information passed to Financial Mail highlights some of the offenders.The world's most famous investor, Warren Buffett, has told his thousands of star-struck investors that he has no intention of buying shares in the flotation of Facebook. The head of investment group Berkshire Hathaway said on US television that he had no plans to buy into the social networking site, which is being floated at a value of almost $100bn (£62bn) later this year. The comments came ahead of this weekend's shareholder meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, where Berkshire Hathaway investors gathered to hear Buffett's thoughts on investment and the state of the economy, says the The Financial Mail on Sunday.AB