Monday newspaper round-up: 'Footnotes' debt, trains, housebuilders, gambling

The boss of Britain’s last state-owned train operator today attacked Labour’s plans to renationalise the railways, insisting that the move would dramatically force up fares. Michael Holden, who ran the renationalised east coast network, warned that abolishing private operators would lead to the loss of at least £800 million a year in investment. - The Times

Boris Johnson will use a showdown meeting with Theresa May this week to demand reassurances that the Prime Minister will not agree to make substantial payments to the EU after Brexit. The Foreign Secretary is concerned by reports that Mrs May is preparing to announce that she will carry on paying up to £10 billion per year to the EU during a transition period, which could be as long as three years. -Telegraph

Housebuilders must diversify their debt from the biggest five banks or risk shutting off access to vital capital, an analyst at KPMG has warned. More than 80pc of the listed housebuilders’ £10bn of debt is held by just five banks: RBS, Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds and Santander, and no other industry has this level of concentration. - Telegraph

The UK’s debt-laden pub giants are ­beginning to struggle because of a squeeze on earnings and rising costs, according to an industry stress test by ratings agency Moody’s. Analysts said publicans are facing a perfect storm of rising business rates, labour costs and inflation, as well as falling beer consumption and fears about a consumer spending downturn. - Telegraph

A bidding battle could be about to ensue for the Metro after the Russian owner of the Evening Standard expressed interest in buying the free commuter newspaper. Evgeny Lebedev, the 37-year-old owner of the Evening Standard, is reported to have made an approach to the Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT), which has put the Metro up for sale for between £30 million and £40 million as part of a wider plan to streamline its business. - The Times

Asking prices for homes in London have recorded their biggest annual fall so far this decade and have dropped on average by £18,000 in the space of just a month, the property site Rightmove said on Monday. But this headline finding masks much larger falls in some of the capital’s most expensive boroughs. The average asking price of a home in Kensington and Chelsea plummeted by more than £300,000 between August and September, and Camden was also hit hard. - Guardian

Betting firms and broadcasters have made an offer to the government to fund an £8m addiction awareness campaign, in a move Labour warned must not be a “stitch-up” to stave off tighter regulation of adverts. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) will publish a long-awaited review of the gambling industry within weeks, including the government’s view on the rising number of betting adverts on television. - Guardian

The aviation minister attacked Ryanair for leaving thousands of passengers stranded by cancelling more than 160 flights over the weekend. Lord Callanan demanded that travellers be fully compensated as the budget airline said it would drop 40 to 50 flights a day for the next six weeks. Ryanair said its decision was partly because it had “messed up” its pilots’ holiday rota. - The Times

The UK has won its third export deal for the Typhoon fighter aircraft after signing a deal likely to be worth more than £2 billion with Qatar. The Gulf state agreed a potential order for 24 Typhoons to be assembled at BAE’s Warton site in Lancashire, providing a boost for the defence manufacturer and the UK’s attempts to win more export deals for the £80 million aircraft. - The Times

Airbus, Europe’s largest aerospace multinational, has launched an internal investigation into possible corruption after the Guardian uncovered a series of questionable financial transactions resulting in an unexplained payment. Hundreds of pages of leaked bank records, internal memos and financial statements reveal that two companies secretly controlled by the aviation giant engaged in transactions involving €19m (£16.7m), a large part of which was then routed to a mysterious company via a tax haven. - Guardian

The AA reneged on a promise to let Bob Mackenzie, its executive chairman, work part-time and instead piled on the pressure in a move that ultimately led to his dismissal, his legal team have alleged. A letter from Ian Rosenblatt, Mr Mackenzie’s lawyer, claims that the executive was placed under increasing strain. He was dismissed from the automotive services group after a physical confrontation with Mike Lloyd, head of its insurance business. - The Times

The chair of an influential parliamentary committee is calling for urgent action to ensure that British pensioners living in Spain or other EU countries do not find their payments stopped after Britain leaves the EU in 2019. UK firms may not be legally able to pay out personal pension or insurance contracts to UK expats and other citizens living in the EU after Brexit, Nicky Morgan, chair of the Treasury select committee, wrote in a letter to the chancellor, Philip Hammond. - Guardian

The UK partners at PWC have seen their incomes fall by £50,000 each after lower growth and investment in new areas took their toll on profit. The group of 953 equity partners earned on average £652,000 in the year to June 30, down 8 per cent from £706,000 the previous year. - The Times

Brighton magistrates court will be the venue this week for the latest chapter in the ongoing saga surrounding the collapse of BHS. Dominic Chappell, the former owner of the company, is to be prosecuted by the pensions watchdog for failing to give information for an investigation into its sale. Chappell, who bought BHS for £1 from Sir Philip Green in 2015, faces three charges of neglecting or refusing to provide information and documents without a reasonable excuse – a criminal offence which can result in a fine. - The Guardian

The public relations firm that launched the career of Bell Pottinger’s former chief executive could be about to change hands for up to £50 million. Vitruvian Partners, the private equity firm, has asked advisers at Deloitte and Raymond James to find a buyer or new investor for Instinctif Partners, one of the largest financial public relations firms in the City of London. - The Times

Billionaire Russian oligarchs and Ukrainian elites accused of corruption are among hundreds of people who have acquired EU passports under controversial “golden visa” schemes. The government of Cyprus has raised more than €4bn since 2013 by providing citizenship to the super rich, granting them the right to live and work throughout Europe in exchange for cash investment. - Guardian

Plans to introduce low-emissions taxis in London are helping create more than 130 jobs in south Wales, as the firm tasked with making lightweight bodywork for eco-friendly black cabs reopens a factory in the area. The Norwegian aluminium company Sapa is investing £9.6m to reopen a mothballed plant in Bedwas, near Caerphilly, which it closed in 2014 because of tough market conditions and overcapacity. - Guardian