Friday newspaper round-up: Fosun International, energy subsidies, Heathrow, Ford

Fosun International, one of China’s most internationally acquisitive companies, suspended trading in its shares on Friday in the wake of reports that its chairman, Guo Guangchang, had gone missing. The news comes in the midst of a corruption crackdown that has seen the disappearance or arrests of several top executives in the country’s financial industry. – Financial Times

Brussels is to propose the creation of a standing European border force that could take control of the bloc’s external frontiers — even if a government objected. The move would arguably represent the biggest transfer of sovereignty since the creation of the single currency. – Financial Times

Hundreds of millions of pounds in subsidies will be paid to diesel generators and old coal and nuclear plants to help keep the lights on later this decade, ministers are set to confirm on Friday. National Grid is preparing to publish the results of the latest “capacity market” auction, a Government scheme that will pay energy companies to guarantee they can provide electricity in 2019-20. – Telegraph

British consumers spent £623m with small firms across Britain as part of Small Business Saturday, according to analysis. Falling on 5 December, the initiative, now in its third year, attracted 24pc more cash than in 2014, an increase of £119m. #SmallBusinessSaturday trended on Twitter on the day and 100,000 tweets referring to the inititaive were sent on the day itself, according to American Express, a supporter of the event. – Telegraph

David Cameron has delayed the decision on whether to allow a third runway atHeathrow airport until summer 2016 over environmental concerns. The government said it was supporting more airport capacity in the south-east by 2030, as recommended by the Airports Commission. However, it delivered a setback to Heathrow’s hopes of building a third runway by neglecting to mention the airport by name in its statement and making clear other viable options – such as expansion at Gatwick – were still on the table. - Guardian

Fund manager Neil Woodford’s attempt to have a former FBI officer elected to the board of a company in which he invested $180 million has been rebuffed. Northwest Biotherapeutics is also seeking the return of “confidential information” from bankers it was required to engage by the Woodford fund after uncovering an alleged conflict of interest. – The Times

Ford plans to invest $4.5bn to more than double the proportion of its vehicles that it offers with electric propulsion by the end of the decade, as part of a comprehensive reshaping of its approach to product development to address challenges such as growing urbanisation. The push means that within five years 40 per cent of vehicles offered by the US’s second-biggest carmaker are likely to come with some kind of electric drive option, compared with about 13 per cent at present. – Financial Times