Sunday newspaper round-up: BoE, Brexit, Amazon, Imperial Brands, BT

The Bank of England is set to slash its growth and inflation forecasts this week as it leaves interest rates on hold, following a dramatic slowdown in the economy. The Bank’s monetary policy committee (MPC) is expecting growth of 1.8% this year, but City economists predict a downgrade to about 1.5% when rate-setters unveil their new projections on Thursday. - Sunday Times

Unemployment could be heading down to levels last seen in the 1950s, according to a new analysis of Britain’s jobs market. The jobless rate has plunged since the financial crisis to a four-decade low of 4.2%. A study by Oxford Economics suggests it could have a lot further to fall, potentially recreating the golden era of the postwar boom. - Sunday Times

The business secretary has suggested that a transition period on customs with the EU could be extended in order to protect jobs and indicated that a “customs partnership”, which is opposed by Brexiteers, was still under consideration. Speaking on BBC One’s Andrew Marr Show, Greg Clark said that it would take some time for new customs arrangements to be put in place, adding that it was possible that the process could take until 2023. - Sunday Times

Theresa May has insisted she has the “determination to deliver Brexit” as she comes under pressure from both wings of the Tory party to change course. Eurosceptics have urged the prime minister to drop the proposal for a hybrid “customs partnership” which they fear would tie the UK too closely to Brussels. But pro-EU Tories are pushing for May to keep the UK in the single market, claiming she would have cross-party support for such a move. - Observer

Amazon tried to open talks with the John Lewis Partnership over a possible acquisition of the Waitrose grocery chain late last year. One of Amazon’s most senior executives in Britain made contact with a director of the partnership and pushed for a more formal meeting. However, the tentative move was “shut down” by the board, according to a source. - Sunday Times

Tobacco company Imperial Brands is believed to be considering its “strategic options” after coming under pressure from investors to revive its flagging fortunes. Chief executive Alison Cooper has been told to come up with a fresh plan for the FTSE 100 stalwart after a 30% crash in the share price over the past year. - Sunday Times

BT Group faces a fight to save its dividend as it prepares to reveal a £13bn funding black hole in its pension scheme. The company will reveal the impact of its triennial pension review alongside annual results on Thursday, a move that is expected to trigger a sharp increase in top-up payments to as much as £1.1bn annually. - Sunday Telegraph

Vodafone is poised to launch a ­massive expansion in Europe despite uncertainty over the fate of its ­struggling Indian operation. The telecoms giant is in advanced talks with Liberty Global, the owner of Virgin Media, about a takeover of cable networks in Germany, the Czech ­Republic, Hungary and Romania. - Sunday Telegraph

The American legal eagle who oversaw the approval of Comcast's takeover of NBC Universal has called on regulators to 'carefully scrutinise' the cable TV giant's £22billion bid for Sky. Gene Kimmelman – who was chief counsel for the Department of Justice's competition division under President Obama – warned that Comcast, which has challenged 21st Century Fox's bid to take control of Sky, would probably favour its own content and raise prices if it buys Sky. - Mail on Sunday

Virgin Money is engulfed by vague takeover rumours, which helped bump its shares 14% higher. The natural suitor is CYBG, the parent company of Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks, as it has the business franchise that Virgin has struggled to build, while Virgin has that unstoppable consumer brand and a big position in retail banking cash cows such as credit cards. - Sunday Times

Activist investor Edward Bramson will finally come face to face with Barclays chief Jes Staley this week, amid City fears that the hedge fund boss wants the bank to restructure its investment banking arm. It is thought that Bramson’s firm, Sherborne Investors – which took a 5.2 per cent stake in Barclays earlier this year – wants the bank to shut its fixed income, currency and commodities (FICC) division. - Mail on Sunday

Torquay, Paignton, Lancaster, Brighton and Kirkcaldy could become Sainsbury’s “monopoly” towns after the planned merger with Asda, prompting MPs to demand action to protect local communities. The proposed merger of the two supermarket chains will leave little or no major supermarket competition in the towns, opening the possibility of a local monopoly and a headache for competition authorities, which could order a sell-off but find no buyers. - Observer

Tory MP Neil Parish is limbering up to be the bete noire of Sainsbury's boss Mike Coupe over his proposed merger with Asda. Parish, who chairs the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, believes supermarkets are already profiting at the expense of farmers – including those in his Devon constituency of Tiverton and Honiton. - Mail on Sunday

Mike Ashley's Sports Direct this weekend accused House of Fraser of financial incompetence and of hatching plans in secret. The sportswear chain, which is a major shareholder with an 11.1 per cent stake, says it has been 'frozen out' and 'repeatedly denied information' about the struggling department store group's financial state and its plans for the future. - Mail on Sunday

A row between two of Britain’s most promising biotech companies looks set to escalate this week, with rumours that Cambridge-based Abcam will table a second takeover offer for its local rival Horizon Discovery. Last week, AIM-listed Abcam revealed details of a £270m bid for Horizon that had been rejected out of hand on April 19. - Sunday Times

Investors in emerging markets fear a fresh crisis could be brewing after Argentina’s shock decision to raise interest rates to 40%. The country’s central bank stunned markets on Friday with its third rate increase in eight days, in a bid to tackle rampant inflation and end a run on the peso as investors lose patience with the slow pace of reform under President Mauricio Macri. - Sunday Times

Nearly 1.3m “silver strivers” — those working beyond the state pension age — would have to start paying national insurance to prop up the social care system, under plans being considered by the government. At present, people stop paying national insurance when they reach state pension age. But under the proposed “care tax”, the 12% charge would continue to be levied, raising about £2bn a year. - Sunday Times

Britain’s small businesses are demanding new laws to crack down on an “unethical” late payments culture that causes thousands of companies to go bust every year. Legislation that would force payment of bills within 45 days is strongly supported by 61% of British companies with fewer than 250 staff, according to a report to be published this week by YouGov and the payments business Basware. - Sunday Times

Campaigners are demanding urgent reforms to stop banks from seizing entrepreneurs' homes if their businesses fail. Lenders insist company owners must agree huge personal guarantees – putting their homes on the line – as a matter of routine before bank finance will be authorised. - Mail on Sunday

Melrose's plans for a turnaround of GKN – the engineering business it bought for £8.1bn after a bitter ­takeover battle – have been dealt a blow after a top executive quit. Phil Swash is to depart as head of the company’s automotive arm. The ­division generates more than half the company’s £10.4bn annual sales and £377m of profits. - Sunday Telegraph

Investors are staging revolts over executive pay in a wave of protests that threatens to destabilise the boardrooms of some of Britain's biggest businesses. Analysis by The Mail on Sunday shows influential City advisers are urging shareholders to oppose the pay reports at corporate raider Melrose, rat-catcher Rentokil, drug-maker AstraZeneca and insurers Direct Line and Aviva.

AstraZeneca chief executive Pascal Soriot is facing a potential backlash from investors over his £9.4m pay package, in the latest battle over bumper boardroom bonuses. One of the biggest shareholder advisory groups, which holds significant sway among the tracker funds that control a large chunk of the FTSE 100 company, has urged investors to vote against the pay deal at the drugs giant’s AGM on May 18. - Sunday Times

chief executive Pascal Soriot is facing a potential backlash from investors over his £9.4m pay package, in the latest battle over bumper boardroom bonuses. One of the biggest shareholder advisory groups, which holds significant sway among the tracker funds that control a large chunk of the FTSE 100 company, has urged investors to vote against the pay deal at the drugs giant’s AGM on May 18. - Sunday Times

BP’s new solar arm is steeling itself to battle global energy and tech giants for a slice of the burgeoning “smart home” market with the acquisition of an Irish tech start-up. Lightsource BP will buy software developer Ubiworx for an undisclosed figure after two years working alongside the “internet of things” specialist. - Sunday Telegraph

The entire £15bn-plus cost of Hitachi’s nuclear power station on Anglesey could land on the government’s balance sheet, even though taxpayers are expected to hold only a minority stake. The Japanese industrial giant has warned it will walk away from the 2.7 gigawatt plant at Wylfa unless it secures UK state support. - Sunday Times

Wet wipes are such a big source of plastic pollution in rivers that they are to be targeted for “elimination” by the government. Millions of the wipes are flushed down UK sewers every week because consumers think they are made of degradable tissue paper. Most, however, are made from polyester, a plastic that takes years to degrade — and then releases millions of tiny fibres into the environment. - Sunday Times

Fish and chip shops are confronting a long list of issues that threaten to send the price of their product rocketing as the holiday season approaches. Brexit, the popularity of online delivery services, freakish weather and concerns about the pollution caused by plastic are all putting pressure on the nation’s 10,500 fish and chip shops. - Observer

‘Congratulations prime minister, you have brought Greece back from the brink!” These are words that Alexis Tsipras must have feared he would never hear. Yet now Tsipras is preparing to exit its bailout programmes completely, the country’s economic prospects apparently utterly transformed. - Sunday Telegraph

Uber is mounting a charm offensive with the US government as it presses ahead with plans to send flying cars into city skies in as little as two years. The technology giant will this week host officials including Donald Trump’s transport chief, and the head of America’s airspace watchdog, at a summit in Los Angeles, at which it hopes to establish itself as a leader in urban flight. - Sunday Telegraph

The White House has condemned Chinese efforts to control how US airlines refer to Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao as “Orwellian nonsense”. The harshly worded statement came as a high-level trade delegation led by the Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin returned from negotiations in China. - Observer

Facebook’s failure to compel Cambridge Analytica to delete all traces of data from its servers – including any “derivatives” – enabled the company to retain predictive models derived from millions of social media profiles throughout the US presidential election. Leaked emails reveal that when Cambridge Analytica told Facebook almost a year before the election that it had deleted data harvested from tens of millions of Facebook users, it stopped short of agreeing to also erase derivatives of the data. - Observer

Facebook plans to launch a satellite next year to test a system that would provide ultra-high-speed internet to the 3bn-plus people not yet on the web. The social networking giant, under fire for privacy breaches and facing regulatory crackdowns in America and Europe, is desperate to tap into new markets. - Sunday Times

A City investor known as “Mr Hedge Fund” has launched a startling attack on the UK’s audit watchdog after the ­regulator said it found no wrongdoing in the way it handled his complaint into fudged performance figures. Multi-millionaire Alan Miller, who started one of Britain’s first hedge funds in 1997, and now runs wealth management company SCM Direct, has sent a scathing email to Sir Win Bischoff, the Financial Reporting Council’s chairman, and Stephen Haddrill, its chief ­executive, following a year-long battle. - Sunday Telegraph

Michael Gove is spearheading plans to halt the sale of new hybrid cars by 2040 to help tackle UK air pollution, Whitehall sources have said. Ministers have been battling privately over whether or not to ban hybrids to strengthen the government’s policy of banning new diesel vehicles in 22 years time. - Observer