WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING
FINANCIAL TIMES
YANZHOU DIGS DEEP IN BID FOR FELIX
China’s largest takeover bid for an Australian company was formally launched yesterday when Yanzhou Coal Mining made a recommended cash offer for Felix Resources worth just over A$3.5bn (£1.78bn). The offer is pitched at A$16.95 a share, valuing Felix at A$3.33bn, but shareholders will also receive A$1 a share in guaranteed dividend payments worth an additional A$200m.
US DRIVE TO RAISE RENMINBI FUNDS
US firms, such as Blackstone and the private equity arm of Goldman Sachs, are establishing firms in China to raise renminbi funds from local investors and take stakes in local firms with Chinese partners, according to people familiar with the matter. The move is another step towards making the Chinese currency more widely available.
DELINQUENCIES IN UK BUY-TO-LET MORTGAGES FALL
The number of delinquencies on UK buy-to-let mortgages has fallen for the first time in two years as borrowers have taken advantage of low interest rates to pay back arrears. A study by Standard & Poor’s of the £58bn of buy-to-let mortgages that have been securitised in the UK shows signs of stabilising rates of delinquencies – the failure to repay loans on time – in the second quarter.
BEIJING SOFTENS IRON ORE STANCE
China’s hard-line stance on annual iron ore negotiations with global miners is showing the first signs of softening as officials cast doubt over the future of their negotiating body and steelmakers seal provisional price deals with miners. Li Yizhong, minister for industry and information technology, on Thursday said steelmakers should close ranks in negotiations with Vale of Brazil, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton.
THE TIMES
NOMURA UK LOSSES HIT £1.3BN
Losses from Nomura’s UK business more than trebled to £1.3bn in the twelve months to March, pulled down by sour loans and treacherous markets. The figures are the first to be released since the Japanese bank bought the European and Asian operations of Lehman Brothers, the collapsed Wall Street group, and then embarked on an extensive restructuring.
UK CUTS SHARE OF AIRBUS A350 AID
The government will announce today that it will give Airbus about £350m to develop its A350 XWB, half the amount the company had sought. Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary, is expected to confirm that Britain will support the launch of Airbus’s new carbon-fibre aircraft when he visits the company’s facility at Filton near Bristol.
The Daily Telegraph
ASIAN GROUP TARGETS BRITISH LAND
A group of some of the world’s richest families is plotting a bid for British Land, the FTSE 100 property firm that is one of the UK’s biggest landlords. The group, thought to include Lakshmi Mittal – the Indian steel magnate who is Britain’s richest man – and the Abu Dhabi ruling family, has approached Credit Suisse bankers to prepare a possible bid that could be worth £10bn including debt.
CARLSBERG – PROBABLY NOT THE BEST PAYERS IN THE WORLD
The Danish beer giant – best known for its “Probably the best lager in the world” adverts – has changed the terms for paying suppliers to 95 days from the end of the month in which an invoice is sent out. The Forum of Private Business (FPB) said that means companies could be waiting for more than 120 days for payment.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
APPLE’S BOARD TO DISCUSS SCHMIDT REPLACEMENT
Apple’s directors are planning to meet next Tuesday and plan to discuss possible replacements to the board seat recently vacated by Google chief executive Eric Schmidt, said a person familiar with the matter. Schmidt left Apple’s board late last month, citing a conflict as Apple’s and Google’s businesses increasingly overlap.
BLOCKBUSTER RESULTS FALL SHORT
Blockbuster, the US-based movie-rental giant, said its second-quarter losses narrowed on higher margins yesterday, although the company said its US same-store sales tumbled 18 per cent. The company also cut its target for its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization by $35m (£21m) to $270m to $290m.