Tuesday newspaper round-up: Airlines, trade, TV ads, water companies

...he also said no-deal planning must continue until the end of 2020, publicly recognising the scale of the negotiation that would still face the country after Brexit. The chancellor told MPs on the European scrutiny committee that it was likely to be possible to “stand down” preparations for no deal on the date of Brexit once an implementation plan had been agreed with other EU leaders. - The Times

Theresa May’s chances of securing a deep free-trade deal with the EU were dealt a blow when Stefaan de Rynck, the main adviser to the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, stressed that the rules of the single market required far more than her chief proposal – a mutual recognition of standards. May claimed in her speech last Friday that the UK could negotiate a future trade relationship based on mutual recognition of standards overseen by a third party court, made up of EU and UK nominees. - Guardian

Television broadcasters believe that there will be a pick-up in advertising revenues this year, after a 2017 in which political and economic uncertainty led advertisers to scale back. Their advertising revenue in the UK totalled £5.1 billion in 2017, down 3.2 per cent from the record high in 2016 of £5.28 billion, according to Thinkbox, the marketing body. - The Times

MPs are calling on Melrose to voluntarily submit its takeover plan for GKN to the Pensions Regulator for approval to show the security of the retirement scheme will not be harmed by the deal. The call – from the work and pensions select committee – comes ahead of today’s hearing by the business, energy and industrial strategy (BEIS) committee into the impact the £7.4bn hostile takeover could have on UK industry if it is successful. - Telegraph

Water companies have “fallen short” on planning for cold weather, the industry regulator said yesterday as thousands of homes across the country were without supplies because of burst water mains and leaks. Ofwat said that the effect on customers had been “deeply distressing” and threatened to intervene if it found that the companies had not had the right structures and mechanisms in place. - The Times

Figures revealing rising retail sales offered some succour yesterday to a sector still reeling from a double whammy of administrations last week. Retail sales in the UK were up by 0.6 per cent in February on a like-for-like basis, compared with the same time last year, when they decreased by 0.4 per cent. - The Times

Britain is poised to suffer the second largest increase in business failures of any leading global economy this year, a trade credit insurer has warned. Euler Hermes predicted that only China would experience a sharper rise in corporate insolvencies in 2018, as it forecast an 8 per cent increase in British businesses going to the wall. - The Times

The world could suffer an oil supply crunch by 2023, raising the risk of price spikes, because investment in exploration remains stubbornly low, experts have warned. Rising oil production from the United States will meet most of growing demand over the next three years, but after that markets could start to get much tighter, according to the International Energy Agency. - The Times

Poundland is taking the fight to Primark with plans to open another 91 Pep & Co fashion concessions in its stores over the next four months. Pep & Co, which is owned by Poundland’s scandal-hit South African parent Steinhoff, targets cost-conscious consumers, with £5 jeans and £2 bras making it among the cheapest clothes sellers on the high street. - Telegraph

Meals must become smaller, say health chiefs, who believe that “Britain needs to go on a diet”. Companies such as Tesco and McDonald’s have been instructed to cut calories by a fifth in prepared food such as sandwiches, pizzas, sausages, dips, pasta sauces, crisps and soups. - The Times