WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING
FINANCIAL TIMES
RISING RISK PROVISIONS HIT COMMERZBANK
Commerzbank yesterday raised its risk provisions as Germany’s second largest bank was hit in the second quarter by problems in property markets and the economic crisis in central and eastern Europe. However, it reduced operating losses , and suggested overall risk provisions this year would be in line with 2008 levels.
T-MOBILE UK CHIEF AIMS HIGH
The new head of T-Mobile UK has vowed to turn round the struggling company and make it Britain’s third-largest mobile operator with two to three years. Richard Moat, who became T-Mobile UK’s managing director in June, also disclosed the mobile operator had been buying Apple i-Phones outside Britain and supplying them to customers who were threatening to leave.
SUGAR PRICES SOAR TO 28-YEAR HIGH
Sugar prices rocketed to a 28-year high yesterday as alarmed customers rushed into the market amid tight global supplies following disapointing crops in Brazil and India, the world’s largest producers, and resilient demand. Mexico and Egypt, among the world’s top 10 consumers, announced large purchases of sugar in the international physical markets and traders said that other countries are set to follow.
ELAN LAUNCHES COURT FIGHT OVER DRUG ROW WITH BIOGEN
Elan has launched legal action to prevent the “irreparable injury” that would be caused by the collapse of its partnership with Biogen Idec over its pivotal multiple sclerosis drug. The pharmaceuticals company is challenging a claim from Biogen, based in Boston, that Elan’s recent $1.5bn (£893m) deal with Johnson & Johnson placed it in “material breach” of their profit-sharing agreement for Tysabri.
THE TIMES
BRITISH DIRECTOR TIMOTHY SUMMERS TO LEAVE TNK-BP VENTURE
The most senior British executive at TNK-BP, the British oil group’s Russian joint venture, is set to leave this autumn for personal reasons, the company announced yesterday. Timothy Summers, TNK-BP’s chief operating officer and a former employee of BP, will step down in mid-October. He will be replaced at the joint venture by Bill Schrader, president of BP Azerbaijan.
GAGGIA UK FUTURE IN THE BALANCE
Gaggia UK, the British distributor of the caffeine addict’s coffee machine of choice, was last night teetering on the brink of administration. A recorded message on the company’s telephone sales line said that Gaggia could not take any orders and would contact customers with details about repairs.
The Daily Telegraph
AOL’S NEW CHIEF TO UNVEIL TURNAROUND STRATEGY
Tim Armstrong, the new chief executive of AOL, is expected to set out an ambitious plan to reverse the internet portal’s ailing fortunes today. It has been almost a decade since the ill-advised £99bn merger between AOL and Time Warner, which has seen AOL’s value drop by 97per cent.
ECB HOLDS INTEREST RATE AS DOWNTURN SLOWS
The European Central Bank kept interest rates on hold at a record low yesterday and said the euro zone economy would remain weak over the rest of the year, although the rate of contraction is slowing down. ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet said rates remained appropriate at the current level, adding that a fall in consumer prices in the euro zone’’ recession-bound economy was temporary.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
BUICK BETS ON A HYBRID TO BROADEN ITS APPEAL
With a big hand from the government, General Motors, plans to launch a gas-electric hybrid Buick in 2011 that owners will be able to recharge by plugging into an electrical outlet. GM originally intended to release the hybrid technology in a Saturn model, but it is selling that brand. Its decision to make the hybrid a Buick illustrates the big challenge GM faces as it slims down after its exit from bankruptcy last month.
DBS SUFFERS ON BAD-DEBT CHARGES
BS Group Holdings today reported a 15 per cent drop in second-quarter net profit, as bad-debt charges continued to rise. DBS, Southeast Asia’s largest bank by assets, posted a net profit of 552m Singapore dollars (£229m) for the quarter, down from S$652m a year earlier.