Wednesday newspaper round-up: BHP Billiton, BAA, National Express

21st Oct 2009 06:20

BHP Billiton on Wednesday added its voice to tentative signs of a more broad-based global recovery when the Anglo-Australian mining group reported record iron ore production in the three months ended September. In its latest production report, the world's biggest miner said developed economies were stabilising and there had been a flow of "increasingly positive news" across most economies, the FT reports.Mervyn King, the Governor of the Bank of England, called last night for banks to be split to prevent them becoming "too important to fail", saying that tougher regulation would not prevent another financial crisis. His comments came as it was confirmed that the public finances suffered their worst six months on record between April and September and as a respected economic forecaster, warned that it would take longer to close the UK's budget deficit than the Treasury has been predicting, the Times reports.The long-awaited break-up of the UK's biggest airport group began on Tuesday night after BAA reached an agreement to sell Gatwick to the owners of London City Airport for £1.5bn, according to people close to the matter. Negotiators for the two sides worked late into the night on the deal, which is expected to be announced early on Wednesday morning before markets open, the FT reports. The Conservative Party is drawing up plans for drastic job cuts at Ofgem, the energy regulator, as part of a sweeping overhaul of British energy policy, The Times has learnt. Senior Tories said that the party was working on an energy policy document to be unveiled within weeks that would include a proposal to strip Ofgem of all its strategic powers on energy security. France has given its clearest indication to date that the surging euro is a threat to Europe's fragile recovery and will not be tolerated for much longer. "The euro at $1.50 is a disaster for the European economy and industry," said Henri Guaino, right-hand man of President Nicolas Sarkozy, the Telegraph reports.The currency has risen 15% in trade-weighted terms since March, equivalent to six quarter of a percentage-point rises in interest rates. It briefly flirted with $1.50 against the dollar on Tuesday before falling back on intervention fears. OPEC, the cartel of petroleum-producing countries, has clashed with the Western energy majors over the reasons that the oil price on Tuesday hit a year-high of $80 per barrel at one stage. Abdalla Salem El-Badri , secretary-general of OPEC, blamed governments for failing to keep speculators in check, pointing out that there was no shortage of oil supplies around the world, the Telegraph reports.Plans to open up the BBC's iPlayer website to ITV and Channel 4 programmes were rejected yesterday by the corporation's regulator. The revamped iPlayer, linking The X Factor with Strictly Come Dancing and Hollyoaks with Blue Peter, was intended to steer the BBC's online audience to commercial rivals, the Times reports.Regent Inns, the operator of the Walkabout bar and Jongleurs comedy club chains, is to undergo a pre-pack administration that will wipe out ordinary shareholders and precipitate the closure of nine of its worst-performing sites, with the loss of 150 jobs, the Times reports. Stagecoach will submit a slew of financial information to the under-siege National Express on Wednesday before an imminent board vote at its takeover target on whether to allow limited access to its books. The planned vote is the most significant sign yet that National Express is seriously considering a last-gasp approach made by Stagecoach last Friday after the company's takeover talks with a CVC-led consortium fell apart unexpectedly, the Times reports.Santander, the biggest bank in the eurozone by market capitalisation, continues to generate capital at such a rate that it may have to return cash to shareholders next year through a special dividend, according to Alfredo Sáenz, chief executive, the FT reports.Speculation that Qatar's sovereign wealth fund is preparing another tilt at Sainsbury's was rising again yesterday after it sold down its stake in Barclays. The Qatar Investment Authority was issued with warrants at the height of the financial crisis that allowed it to buy 380 million new Barclays shares at 198p. Yesterday it cashed them in, making a profit of £613m after Credit Suisse oversaw a sale to institutions. As a result of the warrants' conversion, Barclays will net £750m, which will go towards strengthening its balance sheet, the Independent reports.