Monday newspaper round-up: Trade deal, house prices, KPMG, Capita

The “phase one” US-China trade deal will nearly double US exports to China over the next two years and is “totally done” despite the need for translation and revisions to its text, US trade representative Robert Lighthizer said on Sunday. Lighthizer, speaking to CBS’s Face the Nation, said there would be some routine “scrubs” to the text but “this is totally done, absolutely”. Lighthizer said a date and location for senior US and Chinese officials to formally sign the agreement was still being determined. – Guardian

The average price of a home will rise by 2% over the next year, with northern regions performing more strongly than those further south, according to predictions from the UK’s biggest property website. Rightmove said it expects to see asking prices rise by 2% in 2020 – and that the election result could pave the way for increased housing market activity this coming spring. - Guardian

Senior KPMG executives have taken a £6m pay cut after a tough year in which a series of accounting controversies and sliding profits forced the Big Four firm into retreat. The leadership of KPMG UK, the 25 members of its board and executive committee, took home £21m in the year to Sept 30, down from £27m last year. On average, board members took home £840,000 this year, compared to £964,000 in 2018, according to its annual report. – Telegraph

Capita, the outsourced services contractor, is launching an IT consultancy in an attempt to put itself in the same league as large, high-margin professional services firms such as Accenture and Cap Gemini. The one-time FTSE 100 company has started Capita Consulting, with plans to have 450 consultants next year. It wants to advise large organisations on their needs in the digital economy rather than, as hitherto, acting as a much lower-margin contractor. – The Times

An Indian company with deep pockets has promised to wage a price war in an attempt to break into London’s fiercely competitive taxi hailing market. Ola, which is backed by Softbank, will launch in the capital next month, hoping to benefit from the problems at Uber. The American giant, also backed by the Japanese technology investor, is set to lose its licence in Europe’s most lucrative taxi market after a ruling by Transport for London (TFL) that Uber was not “fit and proper” to hold a licence. last month. Uber intends to appeal. – The Times