Tuesday newspaper roundup: Economic recovery, Royal Mail, National Grid

8th Oct 2013 07:15

A sharp pick-up in sales, orders and hiring intentions across Britain has added to the growing weight of evidence that an economic recovery is rapidly taking hold. The barometers for activity in both services and manufacturing are pointing far fairer than three months ago, according to the latest snapshot from the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC). Adding to the sense of recovery, companies are hiring temporary workers at their fastest rate in 15 years, according to a separate study by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation and KPMG, writes The Times. Australian business confidence jumped to a three-and-a-half year high in September, a sign that the resource-rich economy may be poised for a lasting post-election bounce. The confidence gauge measured by the National Australia Bank business survey, released on Tuesday, rose 12 points last month, to hit its highest level since March 2010, the Financial Times reported. Retail demand for Royal Mail shares is the highest the City has seen since lastminute.com more than a decade ago, experts have said. IG Index said private investor excitement in the government sell-off has created a frenzy in the "grey market" ahead of the final deadline for share applications tonight. Private investors were betting that Royal Mail's share price will start trading at £4.03 - more that 70p higher than the government's top guide price. David Jones, Chief Strategist at IG Index, said: "The last time we saw a grey market as popular as this in the UK was lastminute.com in 2000. It's nearly as popular as Facebook 18 months ago," The Daily Telegraph says.Housebuilder Cala, which recently changed hands in a £214m deal, today unveiled record profits and said it is seeking to double in size in the next four years. Pre-tax profit soared by 37% to £12.5m on the back of a recovery in the housing market. The Edinburgh-based firm said an increase in margins helped to overcome a 5% dip in turnover to £240.8m. It is now targeting growth in a number of property hotspots including Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Greater London, where demand for its top-end homes continues to be strong, The Scotsman says. After centuries at the heart of the UK economy, the City of London has always found a way to bounce back. The mood of the rest of the country is fragile, with each set of inflation or factory output figures causing relief or furrowed brows among economists. Britain is five years on from the 2007 crash, and it is still not clear whether the nation is at the beginning of the end or whether it will suffer a lost decade of stagnation like Japan, The Daily Mail says. The risk of electricity blackouts will be at the highest level for six years this winter and even greater in subsequent years because of lack of investment in new power plants, according to National Grid. The safety margin of the UK's power supply system has fallen in the past two years from 17% above the level needed to cope in an "average cold spell" to 5%. National Grid admitted that a prolonged period of low wind, common in cold spells, would push the margin even lower as output plummeted from the nation's 5,000 wind turbines, The Times reports. AB