Sunday newspaper round-up: Tory manifesto, M&S, Store Twenty One, 'Platinum Pensioners'

Marks & Spencer will report a fresh slump in clothing sales on Wednesday after a revival at Christmas proved short-lived. The disappointing finish to the year will be revealed alongside a sharp fall in annual profits. Hopes that M&S chief executive Steve Rowe had come up with a winning formula for the UK’s biggest clothing retailer were raised after it recorded its first underlying growth in nearly two years over the key festive quarter. - Guardian

Fashion chain Store Twenty One is on the brink of collapse this weekend after its main backer refused to continue propping up the failing retailer. The discount chain, formerly known as Quality Seconds, is expected to declare insolvency this week, putting around 1,000 jobs at risk. The retailer, which has around 125 high street shops, has spent the last few weeks scrambling to raise fresh cash from its main lender, State Bank of India, ahead of a court-imposed deadline on Friday. - Telegraph

A high spending group of older people is living a ‘rock star lifestyle’, enjoying lavish holidays, meals in expensive restaurants and other luxury treats while low wages and inflation are putting the squeeze on the young. The ‘Platinum Pensioners’ – estimated to number 3.4 million – could be a lifesaver for businesses. They have been on a spending spree thought to have increased by 72 per cent over the past five years to a staggering £72 billion a year. - Mail

A £520m case is scheduled to begin in the high court on Monday that will scrutinise the months leading up to Royal Bank of Scotland’s £45bn bailout at the height of the financial crisis. Along with other directors, the disgraced former RBS chief executive Fred Goodwin will be forced to defend accusations that investors were misled into buying shares in the Edinburgh-based bank. - Guardian

Britain's online fashion upstarts are taking on American retailers as US shoppers turn away from traditional department stores. Asos and Boohoo are fighting for a share of the lucrative US market as appetite for online shopping rockets and in-store shopping declines. More than £3.6 billion was wiped off the US retail store sector this month after some of the most established names such as Macy's, Kohl's, Dillard's, Nordstrom and JC Penney saw sales plunge in the first three months of the year. - Mail

Guy Hands’ private equity firm Terra Firma was forced to prop up Wyevale Garden Centres, the Sunday Telegraph has revealed, saying Wyevale - which Terra Firma bought for £276m in 2012 - came “within a whisker” of breaching its banking covenants at the start of the year after a slump in earnings. Despite the private equity firm’s attempts to renegotiate with its banks, one of the lenders refused to waive its terms. In order to avoid a breach, Terra Firma was left with no choice but to spend around £25m buying out the bank’s debt.

“Never again,” says Antonio Horta-Osorio, chief executive of Lloyds Banking Group, referring to the bail-out of Britain’s banks in 2008. “Six years ago this bank was in deep difficulty. It had received £100 billion in assistance from the Bank of England. It had £200 billion in net debt and it had £200 billion in toxic assets from the HBOS acquisition.” He added: “I absolutely believe that taxpayers’ money should never ever be used again to bail out a failing bank. If a bank is badly managed, if it takes too many risks, it should fail like any other company.” - Mail

Cable operator Virgin Media is plotting a shake-up of the pay-TV industry by auctioning off rights to some of the best slots in its channel menu to the highest bidder. The move, backed by its parent company Liberty Global, is an attempt to open up a new source of income. It is likely to prove controversial, however, as it could boost competition to the BBC, ITV and Channel 4. They have guaranteed slots on the first page of programming guides and in return must broadcast news and other public service programming. - Telegraph

Shell shareholders including the Church of England, European pension funds and Dutch activists will send a signal to the board of the Anglo-Dutch company this week by voting for it to set new climate change goals. The challenge comes from a Dutch group of retail investors, who have tabled a resolution for Shell’s annual general meeting on Tuesday, asking the company to establish carbon emission reduction targets. “A large group of institutional investors will make their dissatisfaction with the company’s position evident by voting for this resolution,” said Mark van Baal of Follow this. - Guardian

Hong Kong investors are emerging as the favourites to snap up a 50pc stake in London’s Walkie Talkie skyscraper, as rules governing the exporting of Chinese money tighten. Hong Kong-listed firms Chinese Estates and Asian Growth Properties, both of which have bought in London this year are rumoured to be lining up bids. Meanwhile, CC Land, the Chinese property company which bought the Cheesegrater building from British Land earlier this year, is also thought to be drawing up plans to buy the stake in the tower, which could fetch £600m. - Telegraph

The case for profitable ethical investing has been boosted by the Church Commissioners for England, as it announced divine returns on its financial portfolio for 2016. The body, which manages investable assets of £7.9bn in order to “support the Church of England as a Christian presence in every community,” said it had smashed targets by making a 17.1% return on investments during 2016. - Guardian

Economic growth in the first quarter of the year may have been even weaker than first predicted. Last month, the Office for National Statistics estimated that Gross Domestic Product grew by 0.3 per cent in the first three months of this year, sharply down on the 0.7 per cent increase in the last three months of 2016. The ONS will update its estimate this week, and economists say there is a chance it could be pegged back further. - Mail

Nestling alongside rows of conifers and wind turbines in a Welsh valley, a pioneering project will materialise this summer that could prove a blueprint for unlocking Britain’s renewable energy potential. The Upper Afan Valley near Swansea is already home to the biggest windfarm in England and Wales, but in July work will begin there on one of the UK’s largest battery storage schemes. Built by Swedish energy company Vattenfall, the facility will involve six shipping containers stuffed with lithium-ion batteries made by BMW’s electric car division. - Guardian

A team of salvage experts planning to recover gold shipments sunk during the World Wars have launched an equity fundraising drive, offering private investors a stake in their multi-billion pound treasure hunt. Britannia’s Gold is looking to raise £5 million to fund a salvage operation to recover the gold from wartime wrecks in the North Atlantic. The fundraising is being managed by Angel Investors Club, whose chairman, Philip Reid, also chairs Britannia’s Gold. - Mail