FINANCIAL TIMES
Cable calls for “demand stimulus”
By George Parker in Brighton
Vince Cable, business secretary, called on Monday for a “demand stimulus” to boost Britain’s stagnant economy, as ministers scrabble for ways to inject more money into capital projects as well as boosting lending to business.
Mr Cable told the Liberal Democrat conference the priority was to build up to 100,000 homes a year but he said a stimulus could be achieved without breaking out of the coalition’s fiscal straitjacket.
THE SUN
Weeks after Olympics, JJB collapses
Thousands of jobs are set to go at JJB Sports after the chain collapsed — just six weeks on from the Olympics.
The cash-strapped firm, which employs 4,000 staff, revealed yesterday it had to appoint administrators after failing to find a buyer.
And insiders told Sun City that more than 100 of JJB’s 180 stores are expected to close for good.
SKY NEWS
PM Meets EU Leaders Over BAE-EADS Merger
David Cameron has spoken to France's prime minister Francois Holland and German Chancellor Angela Merkel about the proposed merger of BAE Systems with EADS.
Although the £28bn merger is a commercial deal, the approval of all three governments in London, Paris and Berlin will be needed if it is to go ahead.
THE GUARDIAN
IMF hints at more time for Greece to implement hardline austerity
By Larry Elliott and Giles Tremlett
International Monetary Fund dropped the broadest of hints on Monday night that it would give Greece more time to implement its hardline cuts programme as it warned that Europe posed a "critical risk" to a weakening global economy.
Christine Lagarde, the Fund's managing director, said the Washington-based institution was "prepared to be flexible" and said both growth and austerity were needed to put an end to a crisis which will next month again force the IMF to cut its global growth forecasts.
DAILY MIRROR
Asda kicks off petrol price war with 3p per litre cut... then rivals follow suit
By Ruki Sayid
Asda has sparked a petrol price war after slashing 3p off a litre of fuel.
Tesco, Sainbury’s and Morrisons soon followed suit as unleaded dropped to 135.7p a litre at Asda.
And diesel fell to 139.7p a litre as the chain boasted it had one price on all fore- courts.
DAILY MAIL
'I've made £8,670 off Asda in four weeks': Professional shoppers exploit glitch to cash in on supermarket's price guarantee
By Debbie Davies
Asda has been forced to cap its Asda Price Guarantee vouchers after a glitch allowed shoppers to cash in, with one claiming to have done so to the tune of more than £8,500 in four weeks.
The scheme underpins the supermarket's guarantee to be 10 per cent cheaper than its main competitors
DAILY TELEGRAPH
Tesco puts food at centre of UK fightback
By Graham Ruddick
Philip Clarke said Tesco has a “huge amount still to do” but is making progress after last year suffering its first decline in profits in the UK for more than 25 years.
But the company is also slowing down the opening of conventional walk-in stores in favour of online-only sites, known as “dark stores”, that have no customers but fulfil orders placed on the internet.
DAILY EXPRESS
AA owner looks at £5bn sell-off plan
By David Shand
The owner of the AA is gearing up for a possible £5billion sale of the motoring organisation.
Private equity-backed Acromas has appointed accountants Ernst & Young to advise it on valuations in a potential break-up of its £9billion business empire, which as well as the roadside assistance company also includes Saga, the over-50s insurance company and travel agent.
THE INDEPENDENT
Council tax hike on the cards for £1m home owners
By Nigel Morris
People with homes worth more than £1m face a rise in their council tax bills as the Coalition Government considers new taxes on wealth.
The idea will be pushed by the Liberal Democrats when George Osborne, the Chancellor, tables his demands for more spending cuts.
THE SCOTSMAN
Cairn eyes $1bn as its sells further stake in India
By Gareth Mackie
Cairn Energy is poised to raise almost $1 billion (£620 million) by selling off a further stake in the Indian firm it founded.
Sources said the Edinburgh-based oil and gas explorer will sell 8 per cent of Cairn India for up to $940m, just three months after offloading about 3.5 per cent of the firm in return for $360m.
BBC.CO.UK
Former Olympus chairman and other executives plead guilty
Former Olympus chairman, Tsuyoshi Kikukawa, has pleaded guilty to charges of falsifying accounts, covering up losses of $1.7bn(£1.1bn), in a trial that begins today.
Two other former executives, as well as the company itself, filed a guilty plea in Tokyo District Court.
They face as much as 10 years in jail.
CITY A.M.
New iPhone 5 breaks Apple salesrecord
By James Titcomb
Apple’s iPhone 5 broke sales records over its debut weekend, although it still failed to meet Wall Street’s expectations, sending shares in the world’s richest company down while arch rival Google hit an all-time high.
The latest version of Apple’s most profitable product saw sales of more than 5m from Friday to Sunday, beating the 4m iPhone 4S units sold over the same period last year and making it the fastest selling device in history. However, shares in the company fell from last week’s record highs, with investors disappointed at the sales, sending Apple down 1.3 per cent and knocking £8.7bn off the company’s value.
DAILY MAIL
Getting your morning caffeine fix is about to get pricier as cost of coffee soars by a fifth
By Daniel Miller
If you rely on coffee for a pick-me-up, this may knock you back down again. The price has soared by a fifth, a report has revealed.
Both instant and filter coffee in supermarkets is as much as 20 per cent more expensive than it was two years ago.
Happening today...
An update from the Carnival cruise company will give investors a chance to see how it’s been affected by the threat of hundreds of Costa Concordia passengers and up to 1,000 businesses on the island where the capsized cruise ship ran aground pressing ahead with U.S. lawsuits seeking millions of dollars in damages. They will also want to see if more people are booking to go on cruises.
First-half results from the car dealer Inchcape are likely to be flat. It does well off the back of strong product launches in the premium car market, and there’s also likely to be a strong performances for its fleet leasing arm.
BBA Mortgage Approvals for August are likely to be little different from July’s. Mortgage approvals for a house purchase in July were down 17 per cent compared with a year ago although the 55,634 approvals represent an improvement on the 51,245 figure for June. Back in June approvals fell to the lowest level for 15 years
