Thursday newspaper round-up: Customs deal, starter homes, Sainsbury's, Spotify

Theresa May has only days to salvage her plan for a customs deal with the EU after a show of defiance by cabinet ministers put her authority in question. The prime minister failed to secure the backing for a “customs partnership” with the EU yesterday despite telling her most senior ministers that it was her favoured option, with new home secretary Sajid Javid coming out against the plan in a crucial intervention that tipped the balance. - The Times

The government has spent £250m to boost starter home construction without a single property being built so far, it has emerged. Dominic Raab, the housing minister, made the admission in response to a question from John Healey, the shadow housing secretary, who described the situation as “a betrayal of young Brits looking for help to buy a first home”. - Guardian

The supermarket watchdog has given tentative backing to the mega-merger between Sainsbury's and Asda, saying bigger retailers are often easier to regulate. Christine Tacon, the groceries code adjudicator, said she had "no concerns at all" about the size of the supermarkets as scale does not affect her ability to regulate them. - Telegraph

A fortnight ago markets were pricing in a near 90 per cent certainty of a rate rise in May, that has now fallen to less than 5 per cent. A round of disappointing economic data, struggles on the High Street, falling inflation and a bit of dampening from Bank of England Governor Mark Carney has put paid to expectations of a move up to 0.75 per cent. - Mail

Regulators are planning to get tough on all forms of high-cost credit to end the gouging of poor households by lenders. Andrew Bailey, chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority, said that he would set out a series of proposals “in the next month” to stamp out the worst practices by the likes of doorstep lenders, hire purchase firms, pawnbrokers and banks, but emphasised that high-cost credit was “socially useful”. - The Times

Fuel prices have reached their highest level for more than three years, hitting millions of families and businesses. The average price of petrol and diesel on British forecourts rose by almost 3p a litre last month to levels not seen since late 2014 as the rise in the oil price was passed on to drivers, according to the RAC. - Mail

Mike Ashley, the billionaire founder of Sports Direct, has resurrected the controversy over working conditions at his company’s Shirebrook warehouse by filing a complaint against the former MP who led the parliamentary inquiry into the retailer. The company has complained to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards about the conduct of Iain Wright, the former Labour MP for Hartlepool, who chaired the business, innovation and skills select committee during the last parliament. - Guardian

Global demand for gold dropped between January and March, posting its weakest first quarter since the 2008 financial crisis, as the economic outlook improved while wild swings on world stock markets drove the price higher. Demand for gold fell 7% on a year ago to 973.5 tonnes, according to the World Gold Council, which represents producers. - Guardian

House of Fraser is to close stores, potentially putting hundreds of jobs at risk, in a restructuring deal that will give control of the retail chain to the Chinese owner of Hamleys. C.banner is buying a 51% stake in the parent group of the ailing department store group. The buyout will involve the acquisition of shares from Nanjing Cenbest, part of China’s Sanpower conglomerate, which will retain a minority stake. - Guardian

Tesla posted a record $709.6m net loss in the first quarter and burned through $745.3m in cash while struggling to crank out large numbers of its Model 3 mass-market electric car. The loss and cash burn announced overnight raised questions about the company’s future and whether it would be able to pay all of its bills by early next year without more borrowing or another round of stock sales. - Guardian

Spotify shares dropped 9pc after the streaming music leader’s subscriber outlook and quarterly revenue fell just short of analyst estimates in its first report as a public company. Shares had run up 3pc in regular trading on Wednesday, and analysts said investor expectations may have been overblown and voiced concerns that discounts were eating into the company’s average revenue per user. - Telegraph/Reuters

Amazon is intent on tightening its grip on India’s booming ecommerce market after apparently making a formal offer to acquire a 60 per cent stake in its biggest local rival. The move sets up a battle for control of Flipkart, which was set up in 2007 by Sachin and Binny Bansal, two former Amazon employees. - The Times

TalkTalk and Vodafone have been named as the UK’s worst broadband and mobile providers respectively for customer service. Ofcom, the media and broadcasting regulator, has listed the broadband, landline and mobile phone providers as having the worst customer service records, based on a comprehensive survey. - Guardian

Hotel magnate Surinder Arora has revealed detailed designs of new terminal buildings he hopes to build and operate as part of his ongoing battle to steer Heathrow’s expansion. Mr Arora, the largest landowner at the airport, launched his rival plan for an expanded Heathrow last year with the help of former British Airways boss Sir Rod Eddington but has now unveiled full details. - Telegraph

Mark Mobius is to raise $1 billion for a new asset management firm based in London, despite widespread concerns about how Brexit will affect the UK fund management industry. The veteran emerging markets investor’s new business will invest in India, China and Latin America and will focus on companies that have the potential to improve their environmental, social and governance standards. - The Times

The UK’s largest funeral director is to launch a no-frills cremation service in the next few weeks, amid changing attitudes to death and a shift towards celebratory gatherings rather than traditional funerals. Co-op Funeralcare reports growing interest in direct cremations – a cheaper and more basic option than the normal service, with no mourners present, typically followed by a scattering of ashes or memorial service at a later date. - Guardian

Cambridge Analytica, the British election consultancy that allegedly used data harvested from millions of Facebook users for political campaigning, is shutting down. The company and its parent group SCL entered insolvency proceedings on Wednesday evening, it confirmed, appointing Crowe Clark Whitehill as administrators. US affiliate companies are also entering bankruptcy proceedings, it confirmed. - Telegraph

Proposals for a five-year limit on maintenance awards in divorce were published yesterday to end huge payouts and massive court costs. Baroness Deech, a crossbencher, called for a system more like that in Scotland, to end open-ended awards that have made London the divorce capital of the world. - The Times