Thursday newspaper round-up: BAE, De La Rue, bonds

9th Dec 2010 06:17

About 1,350 British jobs are to be lost at BAE Systems, the company is expected to announce today. The job cuts represent the first tranche of defence layoffs to be announced since the Government's review of defence spending led to the decision to axe the Nimrod and Harrier aircraft, which BAE Systems was building, reports the Times.The highly charged issue of foreign takeovers of British companies burst into the open again, following the furore over Kraft's acquisition of Cadbury. Unite, the country's biggest trade union, expressed concern about a possible French takeover of De La Rue (by private company Oberthur), the UK security products company that prints banknotes for the Bank of England, the Guardian says.Agreement in Washington on a fresh fiscal package has set off dramatic rise in yields of US Treasuries and bonds across the world, threatening to short-circuit any benefits of stimulus. The yield on 10-year Treasuries - the benchmark price of money worldwide and the key driver of US mortgages rates - has rocketed to 3.3%, up 35 basis points since President Barack Obama agreed on Monday to compromise with Senate Republicans on tax cuts, the Telegraph reports.Britain's two biggest mobile phone companies plan to slash thousands of jobs in a cost-cutting drive aimed at reviving profits. Everything Everywhere, which owns Orange and T-Mobile, is in the midst of a first wave of job cuts that will result in 1,000 people leaving, reports the Times.The Government has dropped a key paper that was intended to spell out its strategy for the future of British manufacturing, in a second setback to its efforts to set forth a pathway towards stronger growth. The Manufacturing Framework, which was expected to be released this week, has now been shelved in favour of a "call for evidence" on the best ways forward for British industry, the Times reports.Bank overdraft charges have reached the highest levels on record, according to figures released by the Bank of England. High street banks charged an average authorised overdraft rate of 19.09 per cent in October this year, the Telegraph reports. The confectionery giant Hershey is to start selling its chocolate in the UK for the first time on a mass scale in Asda and Sainsbury's next year, in an effort to bite a chunk out of the lucrative European market. Asda, which is owned by the US retail giant Walmart, will sell a range of Hershey products - including Hershey's Kisses, the chocolate shaped like flat-bottomed teardrops - in the majority of its UK food stores in the first three months of 2011, according to the Independent.EU regulators could follow in the footsteps of their US counterparts after the European Commission published plans to curb speculation in the trading of key commodities follow sharp spikes in food and energy prices in 2008. Michel Barnier, the EU commissioner responsible for the internal market, unveiled the proposals, including plans for traders to disclose their position and a limit on mega-trades, yesterday, saying: "If someone is doing something which affects the market then he or she must be held to account," reports the Independent.The cost to UK taxpayers of rescuing the Irish economy could exceed £7bn, the Chancellor said yesterday. George Osborne admitted the handout may exceed initial Treasury estimates - and refused to rule out further help for other failing EU states. Officials will today publish draft legislation allowing for a direct loan of £3.25bn to Ireland, the Daily Mail reports.