Tuesday newspaper round-up: Brexit transition, energy price cap, Aston Martin, Carillion

A wave of job cuts across the energy sector could be an unintended consequence of the Government’s price cap as companies scramble to cut costs. The Government on Monday introduced the Domestic Gas and Electricity (Tariff Cap) Bill in Parliament, which tasks industry regulator Ofgem with creating a cap on the most expensive standard tariffs until 2020 with a potential extension to 2023. - Telegraph

Selling 5,117 luxury sports cars in 2017, 58 per cent more than in the year before, has sent Aston Martin roaring back into the black. The carmaker’s best performance since the financial crisis also has put it in pole position for a stock market flotation. - The Times

The board of Carillion was in crisis as early as last May, according to minutes of a directors’ meeting during which a senior lawyer warned them that they may be guilty of misleading the stock market. Yesterday it emerged, in disclosures from the parliamentary inquiry into how Carillion came to enter compulsory liquidation last month, that at a meeting of the board on May 9 last year the company’s accounting of several key contracts “seemed to ring alarm bells and raise red flags”. - The Times

The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has hit out at the Government for delays over revealing foreign owners of UK property, calling the progress on a public register “bitterly disappointing” as he suggested the current lack of transparency could be aiding terrorism and other crime. Mr Khan has written to Greg Clark, the Business Secretary, asking him to speed up the process of implementing a new public register which would expose people who benefit from property controlled by overseas companies and other legal entities. - Telegraph

Britain is in danger of missing the European Union’s carbon dioxide reduction targets because drivers have been put off buying diesel cars, which can be 20 per cent more fuel-efficient than petrol models. The car industry has warned that, in the absence of improved sales of electric cars and low or zero-emission hybrids, the government must stop its “anti-diesel agenda” if it wishes to get the sector back on target for helping to deliver a greener economy. - The Times

CO2 emissions from the average new car sold in the UK rose last year for the first time since 2000, according to an industry report, raising fears that the country will fail to meet its climate change targets as consumers buy bigger vehicles and turn against diesel. Although motor manufacturers said new models coming on to the market were on average about 12% more fuel-efficient than their older versions, campaigners said a higher proportion of gas-guzzling vehicles leaving the forecourt had led to a 0.8% increase in the average amount of C02 generated per new car. - Guardian

A wave of job cuts across the energy sector could be an unintended consequence of the Government’s price cap as companies scramble to cut costs. The Government today introduced the Domestic Gas and Electricity (Tariff Cap) Bill in Parliament, which tasks industry regulator Ofgem with creating a cap on the most expensive standard tariffs until 2020 with a potential extension to 2023. - Telegraph

The evidence underpinning ministers’ plans to cap the energy bills of millions of people has been slammed as “weak and confused” by the government’s own watchdog. As the government laid the legislation for the cap in parliament, the regulatory policy committee delivered a withering verdict on the case for a measure that Theresa May said was necessary to stop “rip-off” tariffs. - Guardian

Fitness band maker Fitbit lost money in 2017 after selling fewer devices during the year, as it warned over shifting consumer tastes. The results prompted shares in Fitbit to slip as much as 14pc in after-hours trading. The company has lost more than 80pc of its value since floating in 2015. - Telegraph

Johnnie Walker is rolling out a female version of its whisky in the US – Jane Walker - that owner Diageo hopes will widen the appeal of the product while celebrating women. A limited edition run of its 12-year-old Black Label blended whisky will feature a striding woman on the label rather than the top-hatted man normally associated with the brand. - Guardian

In a significant blow to the fortunes of disgraced “Pharma Bro” Martin Shkreli a judge ruled Monday that he was responsible for nearly $10.5m in losses in a securities fraud scheme. The decision could result in a harsher sentence for the eccentric former pharmaceutical company CEO who faces up to 20 years in prison. - Guardian