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Sunday newspaper round-up: Tier 4 lockdown, Business rates, Debt binge
20th Dec 2020 19:41
(Sharecast News) - Boris Johnson yesterday revealed in a 4pm emergency press conference that a third of England - including London and swathes of the home counties - would be thrust into a brutal Tier 4 lockdown from midnight on Saturday in a bid to stamp out the 'mutant' strain of coronavirus. The draconian bracket forced all non-essential shops to shut giving Britons just eight hours to complete their gift shopping ahead of Christmas Day. - Financial Mail on Sunday
Retail bosses are begging Rishi Sunak to extend a business rates holiday as fears grow that a new Covid crackdown could put thousands of jobs at risk. Industry chiefs called for aid from the Chancellor after non-essential retailers in London, the South East and the east of England were ordered to shut under new Tier 4 restrictions. The tough new rules are set to wreck hopes of a bumper Christmas, with the beleaguered industry forecast to suffer a further £2bn of lost sales per week. - Sunday Telegraph
Rolet, former boss of the London Stock Exchange, warned that companies in the UK and other nations are now 'so awash with debt that central banks simply can't control it'. The debt binge by firms now poses a major risk to long-term economic recovery, Rolet said. The highly-respected City grandee warned the problem was so severe that Ministers would next year come under pressure to consider debt cancellation programmes. - Financial Mail on Sunday
Airlines like Virgin Atlantic and British Airways should face "strong action" from regulators for refusing to issue refunds to customers complying with England's new tier 4 Covid restrictions, consumer advocates have said. Virgin Atlantic has told customers it will offer full cash refunds only if flights are cancelled by the airline. Travellers who are hit by new tier 4 restrictions and follow the new stay-home orders in south-east England will, however, be allowed to rebook their flight fee-free on only two occasions until December 2022, or transfer the ticket to another person. - Guardian
Energy supplier Scottish Power has set up a new division to produce and sell low-carbon hydrogen amid surging interest in the clean-burning gas. The company, which has about 5m domestic customers and also owns power cables and wind turbines, expects to announce its first projects next year. - Sunday Telegraph
One of Britain's biggest fintech start-ups is plotting a bumper stock market float. TransferWise, which lets businesses and individuals make payments, is said to have asked investment banks to pitch for roles on a listing, including Goldman Sachs. London is the preferred location of founders Taavet Hinrikus and Kristo Käärmann, Sky News said. - Sunday Times
Pharma giant GlaxoSmithKline is this week set to cap a £100million spending spree with two major drug deals either side of the Atlantic, The Mail on Sunday can reveal. Chief executive Emma Walmsley is poised to sign an agreement with a UK biotechnology company that will give GSK exclusive access to a promising early-stage treatment for immune disorders that affect millions of people worldwide. Separately, the FTSE 100 firm is closing in on a deal with another US biotech company to discover and develop potential drugs for neurological disorders. - Mail on Sunday
Short-sellers who attacked Wirecard are now targeting a FTSE 250 payments giant over its links to the collapsed German fintech company. Matthew Earl, a former City analyst who runs ShadowFall Research, and Fraser Perring, a former social worker who is behind Viceroy Research, are both betting against the shares of Network International. The Middle East-focused firm is chaired by Ron Kalifa, who also led Worldpay and sits on the Bank of England's court of directors - akin to a board. - Sunday Times
Retail bosses are begging Rishi Sunak to extend a business rates holiday as fears grow that a new Covid crackdown could put thousands of jobs at risk. Industry chiefs called for aid from the Chancellor after non-essential retailers in London, the South East and the east of England were ordered to shut under new Tier 4 restrictions. The tough new rules are set to wreck hopes of a bumper Christmas, with the beleaguered industry forecast to suffer a further £2bn of lost sales per week. - Sunday Telegraph
Rolet, former boss of the London Stock Exchange, warned that companies in the UK and other nations are now 'so awash with debt that central banks simply can't control it'. The debt binge by firms now poses a major risk to long-term economic recovery, Rolet said. The highly-respected City grandee warned the problem was so severe that Ministers would next year come under pressure to consider debt cancellation programmes. - Financial Mail on Sunday
Airlines like Virgin Atlantic and British Airways should face "strong action" from regulators for refusing to issue refunds to customers complying with England's new tier 4 Covid restrictions, consumer advocates have said. Virgin Atlantic has told customers it will offer full cash refunds only if flights are cancelled by the airline. Travellers who are hit by new tier 4 restrictions and follow the new stay-home orders in south-east England will, however, be allowed to rebook their flight fee-free on only two occasions until December 2022, or transfer the ticket to another person. - Guardian
Energy supplier Scottish Power has set up a new division to produce and sell low-carbon hydrogen amid surging interest in the clean-burning gas. The company, which has about 5m domestic customers and also owns power cables and wind turbines, expects to announce its first projects next year. - Sunday Telegraph
One of Britain's biggest fintech start-ups is plotting a bumper stock market float. TransferWise, which lets businesses and individuals make payments, is said to have asked investment banks to pitch for roles on a listing, including Goldman Sachs. London is the preferred location of founders Taavet Hinrikus and Kristo Käärmann, Sky News said. - Sunday Times
Pharma giant GlaxoSmithKline is this week set to cap a £100million spending spree with two major drug deals either side of the Atlantic, The Mail on Sunday can reveal. Chief executive Emma Walmsley is poised to sign an agreement with a UK biotechnology company that will give GSK exclusive access to a promising early-stage treatment for immune disorders that affect millions of people worldwide. Separately, the FTSE 100 firm is closing in on a deal with another US biotech company to discover and develop potential drugs for neurological disorders. - Mail on Sunday
Short-sellers who attacked Wirecard are now targeting a FTSE 250 payments giant over its links to the collapsed German fintech company. Matthew Earl, a former City analyst who runs ShadowFall Research, and Fraser Perring, a former social worker who is behind Viceroy Research, are both betting against the shares of Network International. The Middle East-focused firm is chaired by Ron Kalifa, who also led Worldpay and sits on the Bank of England's court of directors - akin to a board. - Sunday Times