Monday newspaper round-up: Brexit, debt, estate agents, Barclays

Theresa May’s chief Brexit negotiator has told ministers that they have no chance of striking a bespoke trade deal with the European Union. Oliver Robbins briefed secretaries of state before their meeting at Chequers on Friday that they had to be realistic about what could be achieved. - The Times

Pessimism about the long-term impact of Brexit is at its highest level since the referendum, a survey has found. Having abated for a while, concerns about leaving the EU are once again top of the list of risks facing British business, according to Deloitte’s quarterly survey of chief financial officers. - The Times

More than 150 estate agency firms went insolvent last year and as many as 7,000 are at risk as high street operators face the triple whammy of online competition, a sagging property market and cuts to letting fees. A study by accountants Moore Stephens found that 153 estate agency firms went insolvent in the year to May 2018, a small increase on the 148 the year before. - Guardian

The threat of a trade war between the US and EU has escalated, with President Trump accusing European countries of being “as bad” as China in their dealings with America. In an interview with Fox News, he dismissed suggestions that threatening the EU with tariffs was counterproductive, saying: “The European Union is possibly as bad as China, just smaller. It is terrible what they do to us.” Mr Trump referred to the “car situation”. - The Times

Debt levels among Britain’s listed companies have hit an all-time high as they loaded up on credit to pay dividends and make investments during a period of weak profitability, according to research. Net debt jumped by £123 billion over the past three years as “companies paid their shareholders £263 billion in dividends, despite profitability being squeezed and dividend cover levels falling to record lows in 2016-17”, Link Asset Services, said in its annual Debt Monitor report. - The Times

Barclays has received a further boost in its battle with Edward Bramson, the corporate raider, after ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) warned a shake-up in strategy could damage the bank’s credit worthiness. Ratings agencies have been keeping a close watch on Barclays as it has struggled in recent years. - Telegraph

The financial services industry is stepping up recruitment and investment despite a lack of optimism in its prospects, the CBI said. Hiring rose at the fastest pace in a year and investment intentions improved in the three months to June, the quarterly survey of 100 financial services companies by the CBI, the employers group and the accountants PWC found. - The Times

Monzo, the fast-growing digital bank, has trebled its user numbers to 750,000 in a year, but has said profitability is its “next challenge” after losses jumped fourfold to £33.1m. Tom Blomfield, founder and chief executive, said the tech darling had made “real progress” and expected to reach “several million” customers by the end of 2019. - Telegraph

Germany’s interior minister dramatically announced plans to resign on Sunday night, after a heated showdown with chancellor Angela Merkel over migration. Horst Seehofer, Germany’s Interior Minister and leader of the Christian Social Union (CSU), said on Sunday evening that he wanted to resign from all offices, after hours of heated talks with his party. - Telegraph

Central banks will have to cut interest rates into negative territory, do more quantitative easing and dream up entirely new policies to combat even a mild recession in the future because they have no conventional headroom left, some of the world’s most eminent economists have warned. A better way to deal with the problem of the “zero lower bound”, when rates need to be cut below zero, would be to raise the inflation target to about 4 per cent but the solution was “not realistic” even though the 2 per cent used by central banks worldwide is “arbitrary”, they said. - The Times

A pensions crisis is brewing among the pre-retirement generation as the UK hits “peak pensioner” and the wealth of future retirees is increasingly exposed to the vagaries of the stock market, a top economic think-tank has warned. Those that are a decade from the retirement age may not even have saved enough to last until they die, according to Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies. - Telegraph

Stobart Group’s former boss Andrew Tinkler has warned a Guernsey-based trustee company that he will take legal action if it tries to swing a crunch vote in chairman Iain Ferguson’s favour. Mr Tinkler has been fighting to replace Mr Ferguson in a boardroom battle that will come to a head at the company’s annual general meeting on Friday. - Telegraph

The BBC is in talks with Channel 4 tomount a £500m bid to take control of UKTV , which broadcasts channels including Dave and Gold. UKTV has a mix of 10 free to air and pay-TV channels as well as a free streaming service. It is 50% controlled by BBC Worldwide, with the remaining stake owned by US media company Discovery. - Guardian

Travelodge has launched a new “budget chic” hotel format that will be rolled out to sites across the country, including a 395-room property in the City of London. Travelodge Plus is designed to meet the needs of “the budget traveller who wants that little bit more style and choice”, the company said. - The Times

Lawyers ​for Tom Hayes, the jailed former trader, are ratcheting up their efforts to clear his name after it was revealed a key witness asked the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) if a third party could “sanity check” his report for “howlers”. Saul Haydon Rowe was the SFO’s ­expert witness during the trials of former traders accused of rigging the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor), but questions over his credibility were raised after he admitted to texting friends for help while giving evidence. - Telegraph