Friday newspaper round-up: Whirlpool, Toyota, Micro Focus, Aramco

A fire has torn through lorry trailers at a domestic appliance factory in Peterborough, sending large clouds of thick black smoke over the city. About 50 firefighters worked to bring the blaze under control at the Whirlpool UK headquarters in Shrewsbury Avenue, with up to 40 trailers affected. Witnesses used social media to report hearing explosions as billowing clouds of dark smoke were visible for miles. There were no reported casualties, and residents were warned to keep their doors and windows closed. – Guardian

Toyota is planning to halt production at its factory in Burnaston on 1 November in anticipation of possible disruption to deliveries of parts, amid growing concern among manufacturers that the UK is heading for a no-deal Brexit on 31 October. Staff at the Derbyshire plant will not work on Friday 1 November and will return on the following Monday. The Japanese carmaker does not plan to reduce volume and staff will have to work the hours lost to the production pause at a later point. – Guardian

The trade war is already dragging down China’s economic growth and could end up costing it another $2.5 trillion of lost potential GDP if the battle with the US intensifies further, credit ratings agency Standard and Poor’s has warned. After years of growth at above 6pc per year, S&P anticipates a sharp slowdown to 4.6pc per year over the next decade. But if relations worsen further with more hikes to tariffs and other trade controls, the reality could be far worse. – Telegraph

Over £1bn was wiped from the valuation of Micro Focus today after Britain's second biggest listed tech company issued a revenue warning which could trigger its ejection from FTSE 100 next week and pave the way for a possible sale or break-up of the business. Micro Focus shares slumped almost a third on Thursday after a shock trading update slashed revenue forecasts and announced a management review. The Newbury-headquartered software firm could be axed from the leading blue chip index after falling as low as 118th place on the list of the UK’s largest listed companies. – Telegraph

The world’s biggest oil company is erring towards Tokyo as the international venue for its planned $2 trillion stock market listing in a potential snub to London. Saudi Aramco, the state-controlled oil giant, has been targeting an initial public offering for several years as part of the crown prince Mohammed bin Salman’s plans to diversify the kingdom’s economy. – The Times

More than a million square feet of office space was taken up in the City of London last month. This was more than double the figure for June and the best for almost two years. The figures from Savills, the property consultancy, suggest that the City is well placed to retain its dominance as a global centre despite predictions by bankers, politicians and analysts that Britain’s impending departure from the EU would lead to an exodus of financial services jobs and businesses. – The Times