Sunday newspaper round-up: Interest rates, Tata, Premier Foods, G4S, Centrica

The Bank of England will hold interest rates at their current historic low for three more years, according to the market's current predictions. Judging by the overnight deposit rates that banks are charged to hold their cash at the central bank, which indicates market predictions on borrowing costs, the Sunday Times reported, there is a small chance of a rate cut during the next couple of years and that there will not be a rise until the middle of 2019.

Tata Steel's Indian owners are in discussion with the UK government and pensions authority about shifting the 15,000 workers' pensions out into the Pension Protection Fund, which would cut their retirement savings by as much as 20%, the Sunday Times said. Tata put the UK business up for sale last week, with buyers emerging such as Sanjeev Gupta.

Gupta's commodities firm Liberty House has started talks with the government over its bold plan to rescue Tata's Port Talbot steelworks and safeguard thousands of jobs, the Sunday Telegraph added. Gupta, who has already saved a number of British steel plants and mills, has submitted preliminary proposals to replace Tata Steel's traditional blast furnaces with modern electric arc furnaces, though this would require a "proper partnership with the government", which suggests millions of pounds of support.

Mr Kipling-to-Oxo Cubes maker Premier Foods could recommend an offer from American suitor McCormick at a price of near 70p-per-share, according to sources close to negotiations cited by the Sunday Times. A takeover at that price could net boss Gavin Darby a spicy £7m from his shares and options, further annoying shareholders that have objected to his decision to pursue a commercial deal with Japanese noodle behemoth Nissin instead of engaging with McCormick.

Spanish banking giant Santander is working on a major headcount reduction among UK management in 2016, according to sources cited by the Sunday Times. Following announcements of a new efficiency focus in Spain last week (as first reported exclusively in the UK on Digitallook.com), the UK insiders said the British cuts would not affect the lender’s 1,000-strong branch network.

Centrica, the owner of British Gas, has begun talks over a tie-up with the oil and gas production arm of French energy colossus Engie. A combination with Engie’s oil and gas arm, the Sunday Times said, such as under a new joint venture vehicle, would allow both companies to cut costs and extract economic of buying scale from suppliers.

Embattled security group G4S has won a five year, $210m deal with Walmart to install its Cash 360 system in 1,360 stories across the US. The system reduces the need to handle cash and limits opportunities for theft through collection points at tills, the Sunday Telegraph reported.

Sir Richard Branson could unveil a deal to sell his Virgin America airline this week, with Alaska Air soaring past JetBlue Airways with a $2bn-plus bid. Branson, who owns close to 30% of the airline's stock, is expected to net almost £0.5bn from the sale.

London-listed Gulfsands Petroleum could look to an “oil-for-food” aid deal in Syria to reverse its fortunes of the battered oil producer, wrote the Sunday Times. Last month Syrian-born tycoon Ayman Asfari bought a 10% stake from Russian Michael Kroupeev, who suggested that while waiting for peace to break out, an oil-for-food-type programme was "a potential short-term solution”.

In a bid to step up competition to BT's Openreach infrastructure arm, fibre broadband provider Gigaclear plans to spend £50m on new infrastructure in 2016 to increase supply to rural areas in the UK. Gigaclear, which supplies 20,000 properties in rural areas including Cambridgeshire, Essex, Gloucestershire and Kent using its network of high-speed fibre optic cables, aims to build “fibre to the premises” in 40,000 homes as part of the investment, which is partly funded by high-profile investors, Neil Woodford and Infracapital, the Sunday Telegraph reported.

Tobacco companies are mounting a final legal challenge to proposed European laws that are expected to lift the costs of cheaper packets, ban 10-packs, standardise pack sizes and make other fiddly changes. The EU Tobacco Products Directive is due to be enforced from May, the Sunday Times said, but Philip Morris's case will be decided on 4 May, while British American Tobacco has also mounted a challenge alongside Imperial Brands.

Following other retailers first-quarter washouts, Marks & Spencer is set to join the grim party this week with a 3% decline in sales at its clothing and home division, the Mail on Sunday reported. The group, where former clothing boss Steve Rowe takes over from Marc Bolland as chief executive this weekend, is also expected to reveal flat same-store food sales.

Horse racing industry group including The Jockey Club, Racehorse Media Group and a number of racecourses, are planning to launch a new pooled betting business to take on the Tote. The Mail on Sunday reported that the group has held talks with technology suppliers, overseas betting organisations and plans to enter talks with the rest of the UK’s 60 racecourses as well as leading betting shop chains such as William Hill and Ladbrokes, which offer Tote betting products in their shops.

After battling Amazon for years, Dixons Carphone boss Seb James had a warning for UK supermarkets group about the US online retailers emergence into the grocery market, the Mail on Sunday reported. "Does it really think it can make money by selling food online? Definitely not - it's all about how it can get its customers more and more addicted to Amazon Prime and the rest of the Amazon story," James said. "Amazon doesn't want to make money out of food, whereas every-body else does and that could make it a threat for big supermarkets."

Retailer Pets at Home has postponed the appointment of new finance chief Graeme Jenkins after an investigation was launched into supplier payments at his previous employer. The Sunday Telegraph said Target Australia, where Jenkins has been working, is being investigated by parent company Wesfarmers after allegation emerged that Target inflated its earnings by bringing forward supplier income, akin to the 2014 accounting scandal at Tesco.

Currency exchange group Moneycorp will launch a European banking arm next month after its won a banking licence to operate from a new Gibraltar office, where it will be led by ex Credit Suisse banker Michael Azopardi. The Sunday Telegraph reported that Moneycorp Bank's Gibralatar banking licence would enable it to grow throughout Europe under “passporting” regulations.

France's Airbus could be questioned by the UK's Serious Fraud Office about its use of controversial third-party agents to sell aircraft in export deals backed by the British government. Airbus, which employs 10,000 in the UK, use export credit guarantees to help enable airlines to buy planes but, reported the Sunday Times, after concerns were raised, UK Export Finance has temporarily halted credit support for Airbus sales.

Domino’s Pizza has warned that it could face a hefty tax bill over seven years of bonuses paid to senior executives. Browsing the company's annual report, the Sunday Times noted that it was in talks with HM Revenue & Customs after the tax authority served “protective assessments” that meant it has reserved the right to pursue Domino's for unpaid taxes.