Reports of the death of final salary pensions, may or may not be greatly exaggerated, but do seem to have been a bit premature for Game, and charities are feeling particularly sunny either.
DAILY EXPRESS
DEATH OF FINAL SALARY PENSIONS
By Sarah O’Grady
The demise of Britain’s private pension system has been graphically exposed by a damning official report revealed to the Daily Express.Government experts have predicted the era of final salary pensions is coming to a rapid end and that within six years no new members will be enrolled on to the lucrative schemes.Department for Work and Pensions analysis shows that many of the schemes have died out already. Millions of workers now face the grim reality of having to work well into their 70s. The death knell of generous final salary pensions has been sounded in a damning official report which ¬confirms how millions of us will have to keep on working into old age.
THE SCOTSMAN
UK ECONOMY SHOWS SIGNS OF BEATING DOUBLE-DIP RECESSION
By Peter Ranscombe
A flurry of surveys will today show that confidence is rising across a number of sectors, raising hopes that the UK may avoid a double-dip recession when economic growth figures are published later this month. Optimism among financial services firms has risen for the first time in a year thanks to the eurozone debt crisis easing, according to the quarterly survey of the sector by the CBI and accountancy firm PwC. Confidence among chief financial officers (CFOs) about their companies’ finances has risen at the fastest rate since accountancy firm Deloitte’s CFO survey began in 2007, taking it close to levels seen in late 2010. Meanwhile, the business barometer compiled by Lloyds Bank’s Wholesale Banking & Markets division rose to a nine-month high last month as 51 per cent of companies said they were now more optimistic regarding economic prospects, the first time since June that a majority of respondents was positive about the UK outlook.
FINANCIAL TIMES
EUROPEAN RULES ALARM FUND MANAGERS
By Alex Barker in Brussels
Some fund managers’ worst fears over pan-European regulation have re-emerged, prompting the hedge fund and private equity industries to hit back at Brussels’ proposed technical standards that they say will damage business and shut out the US and Asia. The European Commission’s 110-page draft text of “supplementing rules” to enforce the contentious Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive(AIFMD) is causing alarm, partly because it diverges from the European Securities and Markets Authority advice. While the debate revolves round specialist rules on how to apply the directive, the industry sees the hawkish Commission interpretation as unpicking some of the hard-fought political compromises that underpinned the AIFMD deal in 2011. Beyond the substance, the Commission’s decision to overrule key parts of Esma’s recommendations, submitted last November, also raises questions about the influence of a pan-European supervisor that is usually championed by Brussels.
THE GUARDIAN
EXECUTIVE PAY SOARS AS BOSSES SET EACH OTHERS' AWARDS
By Juliette Garside
Executive pay has spiralled out of control because nearly half of remuneration committeemembers are either serving or former company bosses, according to a report by the High Pay Commission. Nine current FTSE 100 chief executives, including Smith Group's Philip Bowman, Kingfisher's Ian Cheshire, Diageo's Paul Welsh and Centrica's Sam Laidlaw sit on the remuneration committees of fellow blue chip companies. The committees, which set chief executives' pay, succumb to "group-think" because they are dominated by a "closed shop" of highly paid current and former directors who benefit personally from rising pay levels, the campaign group said. The average pay of a FTSE 100 boss now stands at £4.2m, according the employment research group IDS. On Friday, it emerged that the former Reckitt Benckiser chief executive Bart Becht, who stepped down in September, had been paid £12.1m last year in cash and shares.
DAILY MAIL
MORE THAN 3,000 JOBS SAVED AT GAME AFTER RETAILER'S SHOPS ARE BOUGHT BY INVESTMENT FIRM
By Rebecca Seales
Almost 3,200 jobs at struggling retailer Game Group were saved yesterday as part of the business was sold.OpCapita, which recently bought electrical goods retailer Comet, has purchased 333 stores, administrators revealed. The UK operations of the chain, which trades as Game and Gamestation, went into administration last week, triggering 277 shop closures and 2,104 redundancies.PricewaterhouseCoopers confirmed the sale, but would not reveal the financial details of the transaction. It is understood a nominal amount was paid for the assets.Henry Jackson, managing partner of OpCapita, said: ‘We strongly believe there is a place on the high street for a video-gaming specialist and Game is the leading brand in a £2.8billion market in the UK.
THE SCOTSMAN
RESCUE WAS HALF THE BATTLE – GAME IS TOLD IT NEEDS AN ONLINE STRATEGY
By Peter Ranscombe
Video games retailer Game Group must change its strategy to meet the growing demand to download titles online if it is to make a success of its takeover by private equity firm OpCapita, a senior industry figure has warned. Comet-owner and turnaround specialist OpCapita yesterday unveiled a deal to buy what remains of Game out of administration, saving nearly 3,200 jobs and keeping 333 stores open. News of the rescue comes just a week after accountancy firm PwC was appointed as Game’s administrator, at which point 277 stores were closed with the loss of 2,104 jobs. OpCapita said it wouldrehire some of Game’s head office staff, who were made redundant last week.
FINANCIAL TIMES
CHARITIES IN CRISIS AS AUSTERITY BITES
By Robin Wigglesworth
Charities are shedding jobs at double the rate of the public sector as many voluntary organisations face deepening financial distress as a result of recession, cuts in government spending and rising costs.The voluntary sector shed 70,000 jobs in the year to September 2011, according to analysis of employment data by the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO), an umbrella group for the charitable sector.Financial restructuring experts report growing numbers of charities facing crisis. The sector’s woes will deal a blow to David Cameron’s “Big Society” project, which envisaged “a massive transfer of power from Whitehall to local communities” by empowering charities and volunteering.
DAILY TELEGRAPH
RBS TO PAY £400M DIVIDEND TO PREFERENCE SHARE HOLDERS
By Helia Ebrahimi
RBS is working on plans to “turn the tap back on” for a £350m-£400m dividend payment to preference shareholders as the bank addresses a clutch of hurdles in its quest to privatise the Government’s 82pc stake. “Paying a dividend is good market behaviour and is an important signal to debt holders and equity holders,” said a source, who added that no final decision had yet been made. RBS needs to get approval from both the Government and the Financial Services Authority to make the pay-out. It will begin negotiations this week. However, in the wake of the financial crisis, the City watchdog has pushed banks to raise capital levels and ensure they take steps to preserve their financial strength rather than distributing funds through dividends and bonuses.
THE INDEPENDENT
FUTURE HOME DREAMS SHATTERED IN THE TRAPS OF SHARED-OWNERSHIP
By Laura Shannon
First-time buyers desperate to become homeowners have complained of being locked into part-buy part-rent schemes with little hope of selling on.
Shared ownership deals allow vendors to buy a share of a new-build property with a smaller mortgage and therefore smaller deposit, while paying rent on the share they don't own.
The scheme's popularity has boomed in recent years as high house prices, strict mortgage lending and the need for chunky deposits make it difficult for young first timers to buy a home outright.
But, after using the scheme as a compromise between renting and ownership, some shared-owners are regretting the decision.
Negative equity, in which the money owed on the mortgage is more than the value of the property, has affected many owners who bought properties before the market took a nosedive in 2007.
YORKSHIRE POST
INVESTORS SOUGHT AS FOOD FIRM EYES RIVAL’S BRANDS
Food manufacturer Symington’s is looking to bring new investors into the business as it eyes up a number of brands owned by rival Premier Foods.
David Salkeld, managing director of the Leeds-based firm, yesterday confirmed the company was considering refinancing options to raise funds for potential acquisitions from Britain’s biggest food manufacturer.
But he denied national reports that Symington’s, which owns brands including Ainsley Harriott and Mug Shot, had been put up for sale.
The company is 55 per cent owned by private equity firm Bridgepoint Development Capital, with senior managers of the business owning the remaining 45 per cent.
Any new investors would reduce Bridgepoint’s stake in the business rather than the management’s, Mr Salkeld said.
He added the firm was in talks with a number of private equity companies for further investment and also a number of banks to provide senior debt finance as the company continues to grow.
THE TIMES
CORRUPTION BARS THE PATH FOR EXPORTERS ON FINAL FRONTIER
By Kathryn Hopkins, Economics Correspondent
Africa’s potential as a trade partner for British business is being hampered by corruption, poor infrastructure and a lack of cohesion across the continent.
In a survey of more than 250 companies exporting to Africa, Barclays found that while 92 per cent of respondents believed there was an opportunity for corporate Britain in the region, more than two thirds described doing business there as “challenging”.
In particular, the survey found that corruption remained the biggest single issue for British exporters. This was followed by poor payment systems and infrastructure. “The most significant hindrance to Africa’s trade potential is its lack of regional, and therefore international, integration. It has a similar population to India but is comprised of 54 countries with just as many national frameworks, complex borders, tariffs and non-tariff barriers,” the report said.
DAILY TELEGRAPH
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS ATTACKS RETROSPECTIVE INDIAN TAX LAW
By Jonathan Russell
The changes, which could crystallise a £1.4bn tax charge for Vodafone, threaten an exodus of international investment from India according to some of the world’s most powerful trade bodies.
A letter to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh from organisations such as the CBI, the US National Foreign Trade Council and Japan Foreign Trade Council warns the changes have “called into question the very rule of law, due process, and fair treatment in India.” The letter comes as the Chancellor George Osborne’s begins a visit to India. He is expected to raise the tax issue with ministers.
“We are writing to express deep concerns about many of the tax provisions proposed in the Finance Bill 2012,” the letter states. “If enacted, these proposals will significantly alter the Indian taxation of our member companies with retroactive effect extending back for as much as half a century.
