Sunday newspaper round-up: Rexam, Anglo American, National Express

26th Jul 2009 11:07

Rexam, the world's largest drinks can maker, will this week launch a £350m rights issue in a move aimed at preserving its investment grade credit rating.The fundraising will make Rexam the first to warn explicitly about the need to secure fresh capital in order to maintain its investment grade status, and is likely to be followed by other major corporate names as they battle to avoid downgrades by the principal ratings agencies, the Sunday Telegraph reports. Sir John Parker, the new chairman of Anglo American, is to order the mining group to accelerate plans for asset disposals - including the sale of the British construction firm Tarmac, according to City sources.The move is designed to bolster defences ahead of a possible bid by rival Xstrata, whose merger proposal last month was rebuffed by Anglo's board, writes the Observer.Meanwhile, Cynthia Carroll, chief executive of Anglo American, will this week reveal a cost-cutting programme that has seen more than 10,000 jobs taken out of the mining group in the past six months. Carroll is expected to show a large part of the cuts have taken place at its 80%-owned subsidiary, Anglo Platinum. Capacity has been cut dramatically, two shafts have closed in South Africa and production costs lowered, the Sunday Times reports.Stagecoach is this weekend poised to enter the race for National Express, the undersiege bus and rail group, having appointed Deutsche Bank to draw up plans for an all-share takeover offer. Brian Souter, Stagecoach's chief executive and founder, is considering whether to trump an imminent bid from Spain's Cosmen family - National Express's biggest shareholder - and CVC, the private-equity group, the Sunday Times reports.Easyjet, the low-cost airline, will this week signal a cessation of hostilities with Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, its founder, following an eight-month public battle over its expansion plans. The budget carrier, which will update the stock market on its recent trading performance on Wednesday, will tell investors that it has agreed a revised growth plan with which its major shareholders, including Sir Stelios, are comfortable, the Sunday Telegraph reports.The boss of Britain's biggest water company has branded a regulator's decision to slash the profits it is allowed to make as "bizarre", "shocking" and "wrong" and warned that the move will lead to an increase in leakage and thousands of homes being flooded by sewage. Consumer groups applauded the move, but David Owens, chief executive of Thames Water, said the decision will have dire "long-term, lasting effects," the Sunday Times reports.The world's biggest oil and gas companies are suffering the most precipitous fall in profits in the history of the industry, it will be revealed this week. Several of the sector's top players - including BP, Royal Dutch Shell and BG Group - will announce quarterly earnings this week, revealing the extent of the damage wrought by a combination of recession, the falling value of gas and an oil price that remains far below the record levels it reached a year ago, the Sunday Times reports.Troubled ITV is close to selling the social networking site Friends Reunited to entrepreneur Peter Dubens in a deal worth about £15m - a massive £160m loss on its investment. Dubens' private equity firm, Oakley Capital, is understood to be in exclusive talks to acquire the business, which ITV put up for sale in February, said a source close to the negotiations, the Mail on Sunday reports.Royal Bank of Scotland is launching a nationwide charm offensive to persuade Britain's small businesses that it is trying its best to keep credit flowing to the real economy.The bank will this week roll out a huge advertising campaign, featuring case studies of business customers from across the country who have secured new financing from the taxpayer-backed bank, the Sunday Times reports.Ken Clarke, the shadow Business Secretary, and George Osborne, the shadow Chancellor, are working on radical new proposals to set up a funding institution to help the economy recover, to be ready if - or when - they come to office after the next election. A group of entrepreneurs and financiers are working with the Conservatives on the secret proposals, which they hope to launch in the early autumn, writes the Sunday Independent. A radical new report commissioned by Alistair Darling, the chancellor, will this week call for the government to consider passing parts of the welfare state into the private sector. A greater share of unemployment and long-term sickness benefits could be paid by Britain's insurance companies, rather than the taxpayer, the paper will claim. The report, authored by Andrew Moss, the chief executive of insurance giant Aviva, suggests that tax breaks for the British insurance industry could help to fund the plans, writes the Sunday Times. The Government plans to dispose of about £16bn of assets before 2014 as it attempts to shore up its crumbling finances, and the new appointments aim to ensure the government realises as much capital as possible from the divestments. The appointments were revealed in the Building Britain's Future document released last month, the Sunday Telegraph reports.Debt-laden gambling group Gala Coral could be broken up and parts sold off to secure urgently needed cash for the private equity-owned business, according to plans being drawn up by its leading lender, the Royal Bank of Scotland, the Observer reports.Fox-Pitt Kelton Cochran Caronia Waller, the investment bank that specialises in financial services, is believed to be considering a public listing later this year. In a sign of growing confidence in financial services, it's thought that the firm is seeking advice about a possible flotation, likely to be in London, although a New York listing remains possible, the Sunday Independent reports. JJB Sports is considering bringing back former chief executive Tom Knight to help rescue the embattled business from its sales slump and its recent bitter feud with rival retailer Mike Ashley. Knight stepped down in 2007 and was replaced by Chris Ronnie, who presided over a trading slide and was eventually ousted, the Mail on Sunday reports.