Monday newspaper round-up: Renewable energy, BlackRock, Frasers Group

A development company that sells off land no longer needed by Thames Water has paid out a £14m dividend despite warnings that it could become engulfed by the water group’s financial woes. Accounts filed at Companies House show Kennet Properties paid out a £14.5m dividend in the year to 31 March 2023 despite the difficulties faced by the wider group, which is facing going into administration. – Guardian

A permanent shift to higher interest rates could add billions of pounds to the UK’s renewable energy transition, a leading thinktank has warned. Borrowing costs have soared since the easing of pandemic lockdowns and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as the world’s leading central banks raised interest rates to tackle inflation – pushing up the costs of investment in infrastructure across advanced economies including for green power generation schemes. – Guardian

BlackRock spent nearly $800,000 (£647,000) last year on security for its chief executive Larry Fink following a backlash by activists over the company’s “woke” stance on investing. The world’s biggest asset manager spent $564,000 upgrading security systems at Mr Fink’s home and $217,000 on bodyguards in 2023, according to a filing earlier this month that was first reported by the Financial Times. – Telegraph

Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group has refused to allow the Financial Reporting Council to publish the key findings of a review into the retail group’s latest annual report. Frasers, which has a history of corporate governance controversies, has withheld consent for the regulator to issue a case summary after entering into “substantive inquiries” with the company. – The Times

Only 1 per cent of local government accounts were audited on time last year and there are now almost 800 accounts awaiting an audit opinion, with the delays affecting the sign-off of the accounts of several government departments. Since 2015, when the Audit Commission which used to manage the auditing of English councils’ accounts was abolished, audit appointments have been contracted out to the private sector, with every account being reviewed by either Deloitte, EY, Grant Thornton, Mazars or BDO. – The Times