Tuesday newspaper round-up: Deficit target, Alphabet, foreign investment, Hammerson

The government is on course to overshoot its deficit target this year by £16bn after a series of spending pledges, a slowdown in the economy and the spiralling cost of student loans stripped the Treasury of £43bn. The Resolution Foundation, an independent thinktank, warned that the £27bn of spending “headroom” set aside by former chancellor Philip Hammond in March to cope with the costs of Brexit had evaporated over the last six months, leaving the government with a hefty deficit. – Guardian

Alphabet’s stock fell as much as 4% in after hours trading after it reported it missed analyst expectations and posted a 23% decline in profit as it faces rising expenses. Google’s parent company posted earnings of $10.12 per share in its third quarter, lower than the $12.42 per share expected. Its quarterly profit fell 23% to $7.07, hurt by investments in research, development, and marketing. – Guardian

Entrepreneur Sanjeev Gupta has branded critics "ridiculous" for questioning the finances of his Liberty steel empire, as he unveiled a radical bid to unite it as a single global business. The Indian-born billionaire insisted his opponents are motivated by jealousy and vowed to be more transparent than ever about the financial health of his business, which he claims is a titan turning over $15bn (£12bn) a year with 30,000 staff and operations in the UK, Europe, Australia and the US. – Telegraph

Political uncertainty and a slowdown in global growth have cut the flow of new foreign direct investment to Britain by more than half. Although the UK is still a leading destination in Europe for overseas investors, new investment fell from $44 billion to $19 billion between the second half of 2018 and the first half of 2019. – The Times

Hammerson executives could have their bonuses cut after the shopping centre owner launched a consultation on pay reforms in response to an investors’ revolt The FTSE 250 owner of the Bullring in Birmingham, among other sites, said yesterday that it was consulting “major shareholders and voting advisory agencies” on its remuneration policy “to ensure that executive reward continues to be aligned with shareholder interests”. – The Times