Tuesday newspaper round-up: Inflation, strikes, Southern Cross

14th Jun 2011 06:04

Inflation has hit poorer families much harder than the rich, the latest research shows - and the trend is set to deteriorate. The independent Institute for Fiscal Studies says that for a decade the pattern of price rises has meant that the least well-off families, especially pensioners, have been hit hardest by rising prices, according to the Independent.Interest rates should rise now to address soaring inflation even though doing so would hurt the already weak recovery, Bank of England policymaker Martin Weale has urged. Mr Weale, a member of the rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), told the Finance Directors' Strategy Meeting in London that an early move on rates is needed to preserve the Bank's inflation-fighting credibility and to give it more flexibility in the months ahead, the Daily Telegraph reports.Britain is facing the biggest mass strikes in a generation, affecting councils, the NHS and schools, after the country's largest public sector union said that 1.2m of its members were "on the road to industrial action". Speaking before Unison's annual conference next week, Dave Prentis, the general secretary, said that the union will call "the biggest ballot ever held in this country" for strike action, according to the Times.Southern Cross's landlords have agreed to take "significant" long-term rent cuts to help the embattled care homes operator avoid insolvency, and will avoid any home closures in the next few months. The 80 landlords also agreed on Monday to lobby for other creditors to "share the pain" of Southern Cross's restructuring, and for the board to be more accountable to creditors as well as its shareholders, according to the Financial Times.William Hill has handed its chief executive a rise in salary and £1.2 million in shares to tie him to his job until 2014, despite suffering one of the worst shareholder rebellions over pay this year. Britain's largest bookmaker has increased Ralph Topping's pay by 11 per cent and awarded him half a million shares, says the Times.The spat between MWB Business Exchange and one of its investors escalated into open warfare yesterday over claims the management was "holding a gun" to minority shareholders' heads. This comes as a rival bidder last night walked away. Pyrrho, which owns an 8 per cent holding in Business Exchange, is furious that management has failed to respond after it raised concerns over a deal to sell the group, the Independent reports.The level of suspicious trading ahead of UK mergers and acquisitions fell sharply last year to 21%, the lowest level since 2003, as regulators around the world intensified efforts to combat insider trading. Last year, timely trades - defined as abnormally large share price movements in a company in the two days before a regulatory announcement - preceded 25 of 118 UK-announced deals. That was down almost one-third from the past four years, when the level hovered around 30%, reports the Financial Times.Facebook is preparing to make an initial public offering by October or November this year, valuing the company at around $100bn (£61bn), according to reports in the US. Goldman Sachs is understood to be the frontrunner to lead the listing, which could be completed in the first quarter of 2011, CNBC reported, according to the Daily Telegraph.Plans to cull thousands of Whitehall staff are behind schedule and time is running out if the government is to reach its cost savings target by the end of the financial year, according to a key report on the UK's jobs market. The survey by recruitment firm Manpower found that cost saving measures to reduce the number of civil servants have made little progress despite claims by ministers that a steep reduction in Whitehall staff numbers are a key plank of the government's austerity measures, reports the Guardian.A former hedge fund trader know as "Octopussy" was found guilty of orchestrating an insider-trading scam on Monday in the latest victory for US prosecutors cracking down on insider dealing on Wall Street. After five days of deliberation a New York jury found Zvi Goffer, 34, guilty of 14 counts of conspiracy and securities fraud, says the Guardian.Barclays customers are to share in a £1bn compensation payout after the bank agreed to hand back cash it made in a mass payment protection insurance rip-off. Those who complained about being mis-sold the loan protection cover before April 20 this year will get their money back, plus 8% interest, the Daily Mail reports.Northern & Shell, the company behind the Daily Express newspaper and Channel 5, yesterday said annual profits had trebled from £8.9million in 2009 to £30.3million in 2010 with turnover up by £103.3million to £524.8million, all boosted by the takeover of Channel 5, reports the Daily Express.---RG