Sunday newspaper round-up: PPI mark II, RBS share sale, Shire, Dixons

9th Aug 2015 19:02

(ShareCast News) - UK banks have begun to prepare for a fresh multi-billion-pound wave of further compensation for mis-selling payment-protection insurance (PPI). City watchdog the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is poised to deliver its verdict on a new potential PPI scandal, sparked by a Supreme Court ruling in favour of college lecturer Susan Plevin, who argued that lender Paragon Personal Finance did not inform her that it was taking 70% of the commission on her PPI contract.George Osborne is planning a second sale of shares in Royal Bank of Scotland, with a 10% placing eyed as early as December even if the shares still are under-water. The Chancellor, whose first disposal was branded 'cavalier' and 'rushed' as private institutions picked up the shares for much less than the 502p average at which the taxpayer bailed out the bank, has been told by advisers that he cannot sell another stake until afetr the Bank of England's stress test results are published on December 1, the Mail on Sunday reported.A new €86bn bailout package for Greece has been drafted after a marathon meeting with its European creditors overnight. In return for the new loans, Greece will need to sign off significant reforms and austerity measures, including considerable reductions in farm subsidiaries and defence spending, according to German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung. Athens daily Kathimerini cautioned that the amount of funding and a number of issues still needed to be ironed out in the next couple of days.Shire is rumoured to be close to starting takeover negotiations with target Baxalta, just days after the US company rejected its $31bn approach. If Shire ups its offer for the Illinois-headquartered bleeding disorders specialist, sources close to the company said Baxalta directors would be inclined to begin talks, according to the Sunday Times.Bank details and other personal data of 2.4m Dixons Carphone customers has reportedly been hacked by cyber attackers. In what the company called a "sophisiticated cyber attack", hackers gained access to the IT systems of a Carphone Warehouse division that operates the websites OneStopPhoneShop.com, e2save.com and Mobiles.co.uk. Data that may have been accessed by the hackers included names, addresses, date of birth information and bank details, with the added possibility that credit card data of 90,000 customers "may also have been accessed", the company said, although these details were kept in encrypted form.Tesco is closing in on the sale of its Korean and Dunnhumby, with the first bids for its £4bn South Korean business on 17 August, the Mail on Sunday said. The disposals would more than plug the £5bn hole in Tesco's finances identified by debt rating agency Moody's as dragging it bonds into junk status.Chinese export data has fallen some way below analyst forecasts, leading to predictions of an interest rate cut and other stimulus measures. Exports contracted 8.3% in July compared with a year ago, data showed on Saturday, some distance from the 1.5% dip expected by the market, the Sunday Telegraph said. Beijing's National Statistics Bureau also revealed that China's producer price index (PPI) recorded its sharpest annual fall for more than five years of 5.4%, higher than the 5% decline predicted.Moto Hospitality, the UK motorway services group, is set to be snapped up for £1bn by a consortium that includes 3i Infrastructure, Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank's RREEF arm. The Sunday Times cited insiders who said the triumvirate was a strong contender to drive away with Bedfordshire-based Moto, which was put up for sale in May by Macquarie.Insurers are set to be hit by new regulation next week, when the Bank of England sets out new rules to bring the industry more into line with the new regime for the banking sector. The changes will make it easier to punish executives when firms collapse, the Sunday Times said, with companies asked to provide a list of senior officials to be held accountable for their decisions.The insurance industry is already fighting a new workplace compensation scandal that is still feared could swamp the industry, with a wave of claims currently being processed for hearing loss related to noise in the workplace. Tens of thousands of claims for work-related hearing loss are already being processed and the fallout from the Serious Fraud Office probe into insurance claims handler Quindell could spread, the Mail on Sunday warned. Insurers are expected to vigorously fight the deafness claims, which have surged due to claims management companies as, while legal costs are capped in traffic claims, the bill for industrial injuries is unlimited.Rubbish collection group Biffa could pick up a valuation of nearly £1bn for its planned London initial public offer. The entirely UK-based waste collection company, which has pencilled in a spring 2016 flotation date, wants to raise cash to expand overseas and at home, where it has less than 10% of the market via private and public sector clients. Ian Wakelin, chief executive of Biffa, told the Financial Times that the IPO would inject cash for investment in new plants and an initially foray abroad in Mexico.Sandwich chain Pret a Manger's private equity owner has quashed recent flotation rumours. Bridgepoint said it has received interest for Pret from potential bidders and is considering a market listing for 2016, maybe in the US, Reuters revealed recently, citing unnamed sources. However a Bridgepoint spokesperson told City AM: "We said at the time of the refinancing in 2013 that we would extend our holding period for Pret. There are therefore no plans to sell Pret and no decision has been taken about the type or timing of exit."Peer-to-peer lending companies have signed up in droves for full regulation as the industry grows at its fastest rate yet. Since the Financial Conduct Authority took on the oversight of the P2P lending sector, 114 companies have applied for full authorisation, up from 54 at the start of the year, while a further 178 companies have received interim permission to operate in the market, the Financial Times wrote. Earlier in July, Chancellor George Osborne proposed that peer-to-peer loans will be covered by a new, third type of ISA from next April.Another booming industry is brewing, with astonishing government figures showing a new brewery has opened in the UK every other day in the last two years. The micro-brewing and craft beer trends are boosting the economy, the Mail on Sunday reported, with the beer and pubs sector now responsible for 869,000 jobs.