Tuesday newspaper round-up: Inequality, BP, Vodafone, Metro Bank
Rising inequality in Britain risks putting the country on the same path as the US to become one of the most unequal nations on earth, according to a Nobel-prize winning economist. Sir Angus Deaton is leading a landmark review of inequality in the UK amid fears that the country is at a tipping point due to a decade of stagnant pay growth for British workers. The Institute for Fiscal Studies thinktank, which is working with Deaton on the study, said the British-born economist would “point to the risk of the UK following the US” which has extreme inequality levels in pay, wealth and health. – Guardian
A coalition of major City investors have emerged as key players in forcing BPto be more transparent in how it fights climate change. Investors holding just under a tenth of all BP shares, equivalent to more than £10bn in value at Monday’s prices, put their names to the shareholder resolution, to be voted on at the company’s annual meeting next week, the Climate Action 100+ investor group revealed on Tuesday. – Guardian
Vodafone has agreed to sell its New Zealand operation to a private equity consortium for €2.1bn (£1.8bn) after an attempt to merge it with a pay-TV broadcaster was blocked by competition watchdogs. The deal was unveiled by chief executive Nick Read on the eve of annual results that are widely expected to include a cut to Vodafone’s dividend, prompted by the debt burden of its expansion in Europe. – Telegraph
The board of a London listed-cryptocurrency start-up embroiled in a shareholder row has attempted to rebuff a director nomination by a top shareholder who is trying to orchestrate a boardroom clear out. Argo Blockchain, a cryptocurrency mining company that listed on the London Stock Exchange last year, is under pressure from top shareholder First Investment Holdings, a fund controlled by Romanian-Australian businessman Frank Timiș. – Telegraph
Hedge funds have made more than £500 million betting against Metro Bank in the past year after a slump in its share price. Shares in Metro fell another 11 per cent to a new low of 475p yesterday over concerns about an imminent capital raising and reports over the weekend about customers withdrawing their cash. The bank is understood to be in talks with institutional investors and sovereign wealth funds from the US, Europe and Asia about becoming a cornerstone investor in a £350 million fundraising. – The Times
Hundreds of managerial and white-collar jobs are to go at Ford UK, many at its Dunton operation near Basildon in Essex. The latest blow to the British motor sector came as Honda confirmed that it is pulling out of the UK and will close its carmaking factory in Swindon in 2021 with the loss of 3,500 jobs, leaving thousands more in the local community and supply chain under threat. – The Times