Friday newspaper round-up: Sino-US trade spat, Alphabet and Amazon, De La Rue
The US government will pay American farmers hurt by the trade war with China between $15 and $150 per acre in an aid package totaling $16bn with farmers in the South poised to see higher rates than in the midwest. As US and Chinese negotiators prepare to meet face-to-face for the first time since talks on the dispute collapsed in May, the agriculture secretary, Sonny Perdue, said the package showed that Donald Trump knew farmers were “fighting the fight”. – Guardian
Low-carbon energy was used to generate more than half of the electricity used in the UK for the first time last year, according to official data. A rapid rise in renewable energy, combined with low-carbon electricity from nuclear reactors, made up almost 53% of generation in 2018, the government’s annual review of energy statistics revealed. – Guardian
Fund managers go through periods of both strong and poor performance and right now Lowland Investment Company is suffering the latter. The £441m trust has been among the worst performers in its sector over the past five years, but in the previous five it was one of the best. Laura Foll of Janus Henderson co-manages the fund alongside the veteran investor James Henderson. She started as an analyst in 2009, became deputy manager in 2013 and took on joint responsibility in 2016. – The Telegraph
Satellite operator Inmarsat, theme park giant Merlin Entertainments, the owner of Webuyanycar.com, pubs group Ei, and now Cobham. After more than a decade skulking in the shadows, private equity is back with a bang. Advent International’s £4bn bid for the Dorset-based defence supplier is the fifth private equity approach for a major UK-listed company in as many months, an extraordinary spree totalling £20bn, and we are barely halfway into the year. At this rate, another half a dozen big names could fall into the hands of the buyout boys by Christmas. – Telegraph
Strong growth in advertising led to better than expected results at Google’s parent company Alphabet, pushing shares up 7 per cent. Alphabet said that second-quarter profits rose to $9.9 billion from $8.3 billion (excluding fines) a year ago, as revenue climbed to $38.9 billion from $32.6 billion. However, Amazon’s year-long run of record quarterly profits came to an end last night as it missed Wall Street’s earnings forecast but reported sales that beat expectations. Jeff Bezos, chief executive, said sales growth was accelerating as a result of an $800 million investment to make free one-day delivery standard for subscribers to its Prime membership scheme. – The Times
De La Rue suffered a revolt yesterday, with almost half of voting shareholders rebelling over directors’ pay. Just over 48 per cent opposed the banknote and passport printer’s remuneration report at a heated annual meeting in Basingstoke. – The Times