Friday newspaper round-up: North/South Korea, Trump, Persimmon, Whitbread

The leaders of North and South Korea have vowed to “write a new chapter” in their peninsula’s troubled history at the start of a summit that has raised hopes for a resolution over Pyongyang’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. On a bright spring morning Kim Jong-un and his South Korean counterpart, Moon Jae-in, reached across a simple concrete slab marking the border between their countries and shook hands for more than 20 seconds. - Guardian

The rail franchising system is broken and passengers are paying the price, a cross-party committee of MPs has concluded. A scathing report by MPs on the public accounts committee said the government’s management of two major franchises was “completely inadequate”. The MPs accuse the Department for Transport of “failing to learn the lessons from previous failures” in allowing Stagecoach-Virgin to overbid for the East Coast franchise, which the government expects to terminate imminently, with the operator unable to meet payments. – Guardian

Amazon's shares hit an all-time high this evening in after-hours trading, as it surprised Wall Street by revealing profits more than doubled, instead of dipping as analysts had forecast. The online retailer's shares were up more than 6pc in extended trading, meaning it is poised to become the second largest US company by value, behind Apple, once US markets open. – Telegraph

President Donald Trump will meet the Queen and go to Chequers when he visits Britain in July but largely avoid London amid fears of mass protests. The US leader’s long-delayed trip will take place on July 13 but last just 24 hours, including talks with Theresa May and an overnight stay. Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, said the news was “fantastic” but senior Labour figures warned that critics will not hold their tongues during the trip. – Telegraph

Shareholder anger at Persimmon continued yesterday after another institutional investor publicly criticised the company over its handling of a bonus scheme. Blackrock, which is one of the FTSE 100 company’s biggest shareholders, with a 5.4 stake, said it had voted against the remuneration report at its annual general meeting on Wednesday. – The Times

Two US activist investors in Whitbread are set to push for the owner of Premier Inn and Costa Coffee to break up faster than the two-year timeframe laid out by the company. Sachem Head and Elliott Advisors had been pushing for a spin-off of Costa before the £7.8 billion company announced plans for a demerger on Wednesday. However, the shareholders are poised to change their angle of attack by putting pressure on the board of the FTSE 100 leisure group to shorten its proposed timetable. – The Times