Monday newspaper round-up: retailers, Sports Direct, BT, Brexit

Mike Ashley, billionaire founder of Sports Direct, is facing fresh calls from investors to shake up the company’s board and replace the chairman. Some shareholders have become increasingly disillusioned with the way Mr Ashley, who is deputy chairman and owns 55 per cent of the shares, runs the group. They think chairman Keith Hellawell’s lack of experience in the sports goods retailing business is holding back the company as trading conditions have become more difficult. – Financial Times

Consumer spending is on course to rise at the joint-fastest pace since the financial crisis, according to a new report. However, the EY Item Club warned that household incomes faced a “big squeeze” in future years as higher inflation starts to bite. Falling food and fuel prices will put more money in people’s pockets in 2016, with strong real income growth expected to drive big-ticket purchases such as cars and holidays. - Telegraph

Business leaders have criticised BT’s claims that its rivals have not wanted to invest in Britain’s broadband infrastructure as “disingenuous” and called on the Government to set more ambitious upgrade targets. The Institute of Directors said it was vital that more competition is forced upon the former state monopoly so Britain does not fall even further behind countries such as Lithuania, where ultrafast fibre optic networks cover more than a third of the country. Here only around one in 50 homes and businesses has access to such services, according to Ofcom. – Telegraph

The government’s starter homes initiative could deliver a taxpayer-backed windfall of £141,000 each to 200,000 lucky first-time buyers, but 2 million more aspiring homeowners will be stuck renting, campaigners say. The scheme, which allows developers to replace shared ownership and affordable rented homes with properties sold at a 20% discount, has been widely criticisedsince it was first announced in December 2014. One of the key concerns for housing campaigners is that the homes can be sold on at the open-market rate after five years. – Guardian

FTSE 100 companies paid tax equal to 23% of their profits last year, almost a quarter less than in 2010, according to figures from accountants UHY Hacker Young. Falling corporation tax rates and the use of allowances have driven down the average effective tax rate paid by the UK’s biggest firms, the company said, and the rate looks set to drop further as more cuts come into effect. – Guardian

The former chief executive of Barclays is in line to receive a bonus worth half a million pounds, despite being sacked by the bank last summer. Antony Jenkins left the bank in July after three years in the top job, with the board saying that “a new set of skills were required for the period ahead”. When he left, Barclays said that his contract entitled him to 12 months’ notice from the company. – Barclays

A British exit from the European Union could raise the risk of blackouts and gas shortages, one of Britain’s leading energy lawyers has warned. Penelope Warne, head of energy at CMS Cameron McKenna, said that the country’s growing dependency on pipelines and power cables importing gas and power from the Continent could turn out to be a grave threat to the security of Britain’s energy supplies in the event of a withdrawal from the EU. – The Times

The chief executive of Sky has publicly backed Three’s takeover of O2 despite regulatory objections to a deal that will reduce the number of mobile networks in Britain from four to three. Three is owned by CK Hutchison, the Hong Kong conglomerate, and is battling with European competition regulators to have its £10.25 billion takeover of O2 cleared without the need for remedies that could undermine the deal. – The Times