Thursday newspaper round-up: Brazil, Rolls-Royce, Shell, house prices

Brazil’s woes deepened on Wednesday as Moody’s Investors Service downgraded all ratings for embattled oil group Petrobras, and the country faced the threat of losing its investment grade credit rating from the agency. Moody’s downgraded all ratings for Petrobras to Ba3 from Ba2, and placed them on review for possible further downgrade. – Financial Times

George Osborne has rejected a growing public clamour for the government to ban Donald Trump from Britain, arguing that democratic debate was the best way to counter his “nonsense” views. The chancellor said the US presidential candidate’s suggestion that Muslims be banned from travelling to the US was “not welcome” and that it was at odds with “the founding principles of the United States”. – Financial Times

Rolls-Royce has suffered another blow after renowned fund manager Neil Woodford sold his entire stake in the business, revealing his “frustration” with the engineering business. Mr Woodford, who has made fortunes for his army of devoted investors, said in a hard-hitting blog that he had held Rolls shares for almost a decade through various funds before launching out on his own but had now run out of patience with the FTSE 100 group. – Telegraph

Royal Dutch Shell could pull out of New Zealand as the company seeks to streamline its global portfolio amid a slump in energy prices. The Anglo Dutch firm has put its business interests in the country under review, and is focusing on large growth opportunities, with deep water and integrated gas as priorities, after announcing plans to raise £33bn from asset sales between 2014 and 2018 while cutting jobs and costs. – Telegraph

Royal Bank of Scotland is paying €23.8m (£17.3m) to German prosecutors to settle an investigation into tax evasion by part of Coutts, best known for being banker to the Queen. The settlement is the latest embarrassment for the bailed-out bank. The investigation, which was only revealed earlier this year, covered a 10-year period until 2014 in the Swiss banking arm of Coutts. – Guardian

The government has shocked the renewable energy industry by proposing a massive hike in VAT on solar panels and wind turbines from next summer. The moves, announced by the revenue and customs authority, HMRC, made “a mockery of (David) Cameron’s claims to climate leadership” say critics and come amid proposed cuts of almost 90% in some solar subsidies. HMRC blamed the planned increase in VAT from 5-20% on a European commission ruling covering energy saving materials used in the construction trade and said the EC decision had been upheld by the court of justice of the EU. – Guardian

The world could run out of oil storage space next year as a yawning global supply glut triggers warnings of a shortage of spare capacity. After more than a year of overproduction by Saudi Arabia, Russia and the United States, figures to be published tomorrow by the International Energy Agency are expected to show that the glut of commercial oil stocks in developed Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries stands at more than three billion barrels – a record and enough to supply all the world’s needs for more than a month. – The Times

House prices are expected to climb even higher, driven by a chronic shortage of new properties coming on to the market and a rush by buy-to-let landlords and second-home owners to beat the stamp duty surcharge deadline. The number of properties for sale fell for the tenth consecutive month in November, with the amount of stock on each surveyor’s books at a new low, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors reported. – The Times