Wednesday newspaper round-up: Sterling, ITV, BT, Ofcom, Network Rail

The pound plumbed new depths against the dollar and investors rushed for the perceived havens of gold and government bonds as financial turmoil intensified in the wake of the UK’s Brexit vote, with sterling hitting $1.2798 in early Asian trading on Wednesday — its lowest in more than 31 years. Investors, spooked by a number of UK property funds halting redemptions, switched to risk-off mode and sent yields on government bonds tumbling to new lows. - Financial Times

ITV is set to seek to charge Virgin Media to broadcast its flagship channel, after the government said it will scrap a law that could boost its coffers by tens of millions of pounds a year. The UK’s public sector broadcasters, which include the BBC and Channel 5, have argued for years that that they should receive significant fees from pay-TV operators because subscribers spend most of their time viewing their channels. - Guardian

ITV has set itself on a collision course with its biggest shareholder after the Government announced it will scrap laws that guarantee Virgin Media free access to its main channel. The pay-TV operator is owned by Liberty Global, the New York-listed cable giant that also owns 9.9pc of Britain’s biggest commercial broadcaster. It is understood that once the law changes under the new Digital Economy Act, unveiled by the Government on Tuesday, ITV intends to demand negotiations with Virgin Media with a view to extracting a fee for its main channel. - Telegraph

Ofcom has been accused of making “ridiculous” policy decisions that will cement BT’s position in the broadband market as a “single, unassailable wholesale infrastructure provider” in a High Court challenge by alternative network builder CityFibre. The communications regulator is planning a major overhaul of the broadband market by allowing rival service providers such as Sky and Vodafone to connect their own equipment to the high-capacity fibre-optic lines inside BT’s Openreach network at controlled prices. - Telegraph

When three funds holding £9bn of investors’ money halted trading this week, it brought back memories of the credit crunch of 2007, when a run on property funds was an early sign of the financial crisis. But fund managers and others in the industry say much has changed since a race to the bottom in commercial property values helped to cripple banks and plunge the world into financial distress. “This is not a Lehman Brothers moment,” said one fund manager in the sector. - Financial Times

Government plans to electrify domestic heating and encourage a switch away from gas-fired boilers and radiators are “mad”, the boss of Britain’s biggest energy supplier has claimed. Iain Conn, chief executive of Centrica, the owner of British Gas, has attacked plans to encourage families to strip out their domestic gas-fired home central heating systems and replace them with electricity-powered alternatives. The scheme is part of efforts to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases by 80 per cent by 2050. - The Times

British Airways has missed the regulatory deadline for agreeing a plan to fill its multibillion pound pension deficit, because of a legal dispute over increased payouts for retired workers. By June 30, the airline was meant to have agreed a way of making good the funding deficit in its two main pension schemes, which stood at £3.3bn in 2012. - Financial Times

About £1bn of work that Network Rail planned to carry last year was not undertaken by the troubled infrastructure company and will instead be completed at a later date, according to the transport regulator. The state-owned business, which manages tracks, stations and power lines, deferred £981m of projects, including renewals and enhancement work, in England and Wales in the 12 months to the end of March, the Office of Rail and Road said. - Telegraph

The government has withdrawn a subsidy offer to help to bankroll an £800 million gas-fired power station in Manchester after its developers failed to win funding for the scheme. Carlton Power, developer of the Trafford gas-fired power station, confirmed that it had received a termination notice after missing a deadline set by the government to begin the project. - The Times

Mastercard is facing a multi-billion pound lawsuit for imposing card charges that were ultimately borne by UK consumers in what is set to be one of Britain’s first US-style class action cases.
The landmark lawsuit will be one of the first brought under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, which enables consumers to bring collective damages claims on behalf of individuals who have suffered losses in competition cases. - Financial Times