Friday newspaper round-up: Sainsbury's, Hinkley Point, Oil, GSK

Britain's credit binge has no end in sight as weak pay growth and low interest rates encourage households to load up on debt, official forecasts show. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said UK households were on course to spend more than they earned for the rest of the decade. – Telegraph

The Guardian will cut 250 jobs as it seeks to staunch heavy losses, raising the threat of its first ever compulsory redundancies. The publisher told staff that there was “urgent need for radical action” as it announced 100 journalists and 150 staff in non-editorial departments will lose their jobs. – Telegraph

Investors expect Sainsbury’s to offer as much as £1.5bn for Argos on Friday, as the supermarket considers trumping a rival South African bid for the catalogue shop ahead of a 5pm deadline. Sainsbury’s and Steinhoff International have been set a timescale by the takeover panel to announce a firm intention to bid for Home Retail Group, the parent of Argos, or walk away. – Guardian

The French government has promised a financial bailout for cash-strapped energy group EDF so that it can proceed with the £18bn plan to build the first nuclear reactors in Britain for 20 years. France’s economics minister, Emmanuel Macron, said it would be a mistake for the 85% state-owned company not to build a new Hinkley Point C power plant in Somerset and he would ensure it happened. – Guardian

Oil prices rose to their highest this year, breaking through the $40 barrier, as investors bet that markets were starting to rebalance after a production freeze led by Russia and Saudi Arabia. The price of a barrel of Brent crude rose to $41.46 in New York last night, an increase of about 50 per cent from its 12-year low of $27 in January. West Texas Intermediate, the benchmark US contract, also hit a high for this year at $40.20, exceeding $40 for the first time since December. – The Times

Neil Woodford has called for Glaxo-SmithKline to replace Sir Andrew Witty with an outsider after the company announced his departure as chief executive yesterday. Sir Andrew will leave Britain’s biggest pharmaceuticals group next March, by which time he will have been in the role for nine years. – The Times