Tuesday newspaper round-up: Rates, Aramco, LSE, Copper
Philip Hammond has signalled that the government is looking at alleviating the impact of changes to business rates, which have triggered a fierce backlash among some Conservative MPs. The chancellor told his party’s influential 1922 committee that he was in “listening mode” over the policy, which will see rates rise by 13% in his own Runnymede and Weybridge constituency. - Guardian
Saudi Arabia’s plans to float off a stake in the nation’s state oil producer have been delayed until next year at the earliest because of the complexity of the transaction. Saudi Aramco was due to present a plan for its initial public offering this week to Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, the king of Saudi Arabia. - The Times
The European Commission wants Britain to be paying into EU projects for four years after it has signed a Brexit deal, with final payments continuing up until the end of 2023. The plan is part of a European Union demand that Britain settles a €60bn “Brexit bill” before being granted a deal that will govern future trade relations. - Telegraph
Greece’s bailout inspectors are returning to Athens to seek changes to the country’s tax, pensions and labour market laws in a sign that the Greek prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, will give way to European pressure for deeper reforms. His government agreed at a meeting of eurozone finance ministers on Monday to talks on big economic reforms in exchange for progress on releasing the next instalment of bailout funds. - Guardian
Political pressure over the London Stock Exchange’s £21bn merger with German rival Deutsche Boerse is mounting ahead of a parliamentary debate on the controversial tie-up, amid concerns a major City institution will become “locked in the EU” following Brexit. Sir Bill Cash, the veteran eurosceptic Conservative MP, has secured a debate which will lead to fierce scrutiny of the deal and some MPs are expected to urge the Government to put a stop to the merger. - Telegraph
Online retail sales rose sharply again last month, but with an ironic sting in the tail for sellers of all those devices that shoppers are using to search and spend. The latest e-Retail sales index found that online sales rose 12 per cent year-on-year last month and that the average basket value was £85, up from £79 a year earlier and the highest since January 2010. - The Times
Royal Dutch Shell has brushed off concern that the burgeoning market for liquefied natural gas is already oversupplied, after paying £36.5bn to buy market leader BG Group. Shell’s first outlook report for LNG since the tie-up has predicted a market boom as demand from countries including China and India which will outpace the string of new project start-ups. - Telegraph
The business secretary has promised the government’s “unbounded commitment” to protecting jobs at Vauxhall amid concerns over the carmaker’s future. Fears are growing about plants in Ellesmere Port and Luton as the French owner of Peugeot and Citroën, PSA Group, presses ahead with talks to buy General Motors’ European business, which includes Opel in Germany and Vauxhall in the UK. - Guardian
It is not the biggest copper resource in the world, nor the best known, but a halt in production at the El Soldado mine in Chile yesterday dealt an untimely blow to Anglo American and lit a fire under the price of the red metal. Copper climbed back above $6,000 a tonne as Anglo, which reports its annual results this morning, stopped producing at El Soldado. - The Times
The controversial buyer of the Government’s Green Investment Bank will make hundreds of millions of pounds from the deal, it has been claimed, with a decision due within days. Australian bank Macquarie – dubbed the vampire kangaroo for its ruthless tactics when buying firms – is set for a huge windfall at taxpayers’ expense, ministers have been warned. - Mail
Thousands of highly paid workers are setting themselves up as self-employed to dodge tax in a move that threatens to leave the Treasury £6 billion out of pocket, analysis has shown. According to the Resolution Foundation think tank, surging self-employment is being driven by workers in industries such as banking and advertising rather than the gig economy of Uber and Deliveroo. - The Times
MPs have reacted with incredulity after the boss of Volkswagen told them the company in Europe had done nothing wrong and “misled nobody”, despite having agreed a multibillion-dollar settlement in the US over the emissions-rigging scandal. Paul Willis, giving evidence to the transport select committee on Monday, insisted there was “no legal basis” for compensation claims because there was “no degradation” to the vehicles. - The Guardian
Catering giant Compass has secured a ten-year contract with Tottenham Hotspur at the club’s new 61,000-capacity stadium. The deal, for an undisclosed sum, will create 50 full-time jobs and 1,400 match-day roles. - Daily Mail
Justine Greening, the women and equalities minister, will be questioned by MPs after rejecting most of their recommendations for addressing the structural reasons why women are paid 18 per cent less than men. MPs on the women and equalities select committee said that they were “deeply disappointed” by the response to proposals for improving women’s promotion and return-to-work prospects and to narrow the gender pay gap. - The Times