Sunday newspaper round-up: RBS, Britain´s AAA, Centrica

6th Jan 2013 21:13

JC Flowers, headed by former Goldman Sachs banker Chris Flowers, is planning an ambitious move into the banking mainstream. It has teamed up with Apollo, one of the world´s largest buy-out houses, to bid for 316 Royal Bank of Scotland branches put back up for sale in October after a proposed deal with Spain´s Santander collapsed. JC Flowers and and Apollo plan to inject capital into Kent Reliance, which would then purchase the branches. AnnaCap, a London-based group which has partnered with New York-based investment house Blackstone to invest in European financial deals, has also expressed an interest, The Financial Times says. Predicting a difficult year for the UK economy in an interview by the BBC's Andrew Marr, Britain´s Prime Minister, David Cameron, said: "The top of the list of worries is making sure you continue to have credibility for the deficit reduction programme. That's the key." He added: "It's a tough economic environment that we are in. Obviously the last growth figures were encouraging, we were growing at 1% in the third quarter of last year but we have got a tough year ahead of us. Asked if he was downplaying the importance of Britain's triple A credit rating - one of the few remaining in the EU - he said: " (...) The ratings you have are all hugely important, I wouldn't deny that for a minute, but in a way the real test is what are the interest rates the rest of the world is demanding in order to own your debt and our interest rates are extremely low, the lowest they have been really for centuries," The Sunday Telegraph reports.The boss of British Gas is set to leave amid rumours that he has fallen out with the chief executive of Centrica, its owner. The departure of Phil Bentley, the public face of British Gas in the bitter debate over rising household energy bills, could be the first of several management changes. Bentley, 53, arrived at Centrica as finance director in 2000. He was parachuted into British Gas, its retail business, as managing director in 2007. When Bentley took over, it had a reputation for poor customer service and had botched the installation of a new IT system. Bentley whipped British Gas into shape but his hard-nosed approach alienated some staff. The GMB union accused the company of "bullying" employees over changes to working conditions imposed by the managing director. He said there was "no room" for such behaviour and that any problems would be dealt with "robustly," The Sunday Times explains.Engineering giant Rolls Royce is accused of making payments in return for a 2005 contract with Air China and a deal with China Eastern Airlines in 2010, according to an investigation by the Sunday Times. Both transactions reportedly included executive Chen Xin, who worked for the two airlines and who, according to the paper, was arrested by Chinese authorities in 2011 on suspicion of accepting payments from intermediaries acting for western companies. These accusations are believed to form part of the Serious Fraud Office's ongoing inquiry which was launched in early 2012 when the prosecutor approached Rolls-Royce to request information about allegations of bribery and corruption involving intermediaries in overseas markets, The Sunday Telegraph reports. Morrisons will reveal tomorrow that it was the big loser in the Christmas grocery battle, with the market expecting sales to have fallen by more than 2% compared with last year. Insiders brushed off suggestions that the trading statement could be accompanied by a profit warning. Some analysts, however,, think Morrisons may eventually be forced to downgrade profit forecasts. Some forecasts have Morrisons' like-for-like sales falling nearly 3%. "We do see further downside to consensus profits, given the likely continued sales underperformance, and we believe that management would be best advised to realign expectations," said the broker Panmure Gordon in a research note. Last year Morrisons admitted it had struggled to communicate with customers and in November it parted company with its commercial director, Richard Hodgson. His replacement, Casper Meijer from the Dutch retailer Ahold, arrives in the spring, according to The Sunday Times.Royal Bank Of Scotland is to beg Brussels for more time to sell a network of 316 bank branches amid concerns over technology problems and a £2bn capital hole. The taxpayer-backed bank was ordered by the European Commission to sell the business as punishment for receiving state aid. It has until the end of the year to complete the deal. First-round bids sent in last month have raised doubts about whether a sale is achievable. Stephen Hester, the RBS chief executive, is expected to make a formal request to the Treasury asking officials to lobby Brussels for an extension to the timetable. Only Virgin Money and the American private equity firm JC Flowers made offers, according to sources close to the auction, The Sunday Times says.Please note: Digital Look provides a round-up of news, tips and information that is impacting share prices and the market. Digital Look cannot take any responsibility for information provided by third parties. This is for your general information only as not intended to be relied upon by users in making an investment decision or any other decision. Please obtain a copy of the relevant publication and carry out your own research before considering acting on any of this information.AB