Wednesday paper round-up: Election, BSkyB, Prudential

7th Apr 2010 06:35

Britain's business leaders have warned of a month of market volatility ahead of the General Election unless the political parties offer more coherent plans on cutting the £167bn deficit.The pound fell against the dollar and the euro on Tuesday as the openingelection moves failed to convince traders that there will be a clear winner. Analysts also warned that sterling could come under further pressure over the next month unless the polls start to discount the possibility of a hung Parliament, the Telegraph reports.BSkyB has lost the exclusive rights to show Premier League football highlights on mobile phones to rival ESPN. The Disney-owned channel will be able to send instant clips of every Wayne Rooney header, John Terry tackle and contentious refereeing decision to smartphone phone owners after it secured the mobile rights to all 380 Premier League matches over the next three seasons, starting in August, the Telegraph reports.Tim Geithner, US Treasury secretary, this week made a fresh plea to European governments not to "discriminate" against US fund managers as they negotiate new rules for the hedge fund and private equity industries. "I understand that the draft?.?.?.?would discriminate against third country funds and fund managers by denying them the opportunity to access the European Union single market via a passport approach, which would be limited solely to EU funds and fund managers," Mr Geithner said in an April 5 letter to Alistair Darling, chancellor, that was obtained by the Financial Times.A sudden sell-off in Greek sovereign bonds yesterday has pushed up the cost of borrowing for the embattled state to record levels, casting doubts on its ability to refinance up to €15bn of debt over the next two months. The surge in Greek bond yields, which reached 7.1%, prompted the Finance Minister to warn that the present interest rate burden was unsustainable. The renewed fears about the Greek finances hit the euro, which fell against the dollar, the Times reports.The Prudential has allocated its chief executive bonus shares worth just under £3 million at today's prices. The shares are part of a rolling three-year incentive scheme that could leave Tidjane Thiam with shares worth more than £9m by 2013. The award, revealed yesterday, is on top of a £1m annual bonus and a salary of £875,000, which are expected to be detailed in the insurer's annual report, the Times reports.Britain's largest private employer has snubbed the business campaign against the Government's rise in national insurance. A leading Tesco executive said yesterday that the supermarket chain would not oppose "whatever measures are considered right" to put the public finances back in good order, the Times reports.Copper prices crossed the key $8,000 a tonne barrier on Tuesday, leading other metals to their highest levels in 20 months amid signs that demand, already strong in China and the rest of Asia, is improving now in the US, Europe and Japan, the FT reports.Alan Greenspan, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve, is on Wednesday expected to admit that the American central bank did little to address the dramatic growth in financial institutions which in part fuelled the global financial crisis. However, it is believed Mr Greenspan, who chaired the Fed from 1987-2006 and is blamed by many for fuelling the US housing bubble, will stop short of taking personal responsibility for the crisis, the Telegraph reports.Food prices tumbled to a three-year low in March, handing household budgets a fillip ahead of the general election. The odds on retailers stepping up their current fierce promotional activity also shortened after non-food inflation also fell last month for the first time since VAT returned to 17.5 per cent on 1 January 2010, the Independent reports.The struggling internet company AOL plans to sell or shut down the online social network Bebo only two years after buying it for $850m. Bebo has failed to gain more users as it fought more popular rivals such as Facebook. AOL said that Bebo needed "significant investment" to become competitive, adding that it was not in a position to provide such funding, the Times reports.