Wednesday newspaper round-up: Oil, Brexit, BHS, Apple, Twitter

Growing confidence in the markets that Brexit will be avoided has sent the pound to a 12-week high against the dollar, taking it back to levels last seen in early February before Boris Johnson decided to back the “leave” campaign. Sterling reached $1.4640 at one point yesterday, a rise of nearly two cents, before it slipped back to $1.4580 to close the day in London one cent higher. - The Times

A publicity-shy retail billionaire is leading a pack of bidders that has ­begun circling the carcass of failed department store BHS. Philip Day, the entrepreneur behind the Edinburgh Woollen Mill and Peacocks chains, is understood to be weighing a bid for a chunk of the retailer’s stores, and could even keep the BHS name alive. - Daily Telegraph

Dominic Chappell, the owner of BHS, moved £1.5m from the retailer into an obscure corporate vehicle last week as its financial problems worsened. BHS sources said Chappell transferred the funds to an entity called BHS Sweden, which is not connected to the company, following a board meeting on 18 April that concluded that BHS needed to find emergency funding or would have to call in administrators. - The Guardian

A key board member of the former owner of BHS raised concerns about the conduct of Dominic Chappell and corporate governance at the collapsed retailer at least six months ago. The Times understands that Eddie Parladorio, a lawyer on the board of Retail Acquisitions, which bought BHS from Sir Philip Green for £1 in March 2015, objected to a decision to loan £1.5m to a company linked to Mr Chappell’s father. The loan was then used to pay off the £1.3m mortgage on Mr Chappell’s father’s house. - The Times

Petty soon, Sir Philip Green will make Fred Goodwin look like a reasonable bloke. True, shredded Fred brought down a bank, costing the taxpayer £45 billion, but at least he didn’t take £400 million out of BHS 12 years before it collapsed — or have a yacht and a wife in Monaco. - The Times

Sales of the iPhone fell off a cliff in the first quarter, the first decline since Steve Jobs launched it in 2007 with a promise to revolutionise the mobile world. The highly anticipated slide and Apple’s first drop in quarterly revenues since 2003 signalled a massive turning point, but by no means the end of the road, for a company that analysts believe still has potential to grow in its home market as well as in new territories, such as India and Africa. - The Times

The residential property market is likely to slow before the European Union referendum and is doing so already in London, Britain’s biggest estate agent has warned. Countrywide, which owns agents including Hamptons and Bairstow Eves and has 400 offices across the country, said yesterday that it expected housing sales to slow because of “challenges from the political and economic uncertainty in the lead-up to the EU referendum in June”. - The Times

The head of the UK’s largest commercial property company by capitalisation has warned that a British exit from the EU would result in a sustained shock to demand for real estate in London. Robert Noel, chief executive of Land Securities, said Britain’s departure from the union would have a bigger impact than other external events because the consequences would not be clear for some time. - Financial Times

Shares in Twitter dropped more than 13 per cent in after-hours trading as the company missed expectations on revenue, as brand marketers were slower to increase spending on the platform. The San Francisco based company also issued a disappointing outlook for revenue in the second quarter, below the consensus forecast. Sluggish user growth, which has dogged the company, continued in the last quarter. - Financial Times

The Culture Secretary has rejected suggestions that privatising Channel 4 would force it downmarket, claiming the potential investors that have approached the Government are attracted by the broadcaster's reputation for quality and would seek to maintain it. John Whittingdale told a Lords inquiry that no decisions have been taken by his review of Channel 4 ownership, but appeared to dismiss the main arguments against privatisation put forward by the broadcaster’s management. - Daily Telegraph

Google faces a new threat in its rapidly expanding antitrust battle with the EU after Getty Images, the US photo agency, complained that the search giant was unfairly undermining its business. Getty said that it would file a formal complaint in Brussels on Wednesday, arguing that Google was trying to freeride on the business of photojournalism without generating the content itself. - FT

Britain’s big four banks face another £20bn of misconduct fines and compensation in the next two years – but then their painful £100bn ordeal will be over, according to analysts at credit ratings agency Standard and Poor’s. Barclays, Lloyds, Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC have spent £55.8bn on conduct and litigation charges since 2011, with the PPI mis-selling scandal at the top of the list for compensation and other costs. - Daily Telegraph

Former Barclays chief Bob Diamond said he has the funding in place to bid for Barclays Africa Group (BAG), the business which is currently up for sale as the British bank cuts back its global operations. Barclays owns 62.3pc of BAG and wants to reduce that to a non-controlling stake in the coming years. If Bob Diamond’s consortium – including private equity giant Carlyle Group as well as his own firm Atlas Merchant Capital, and partners the Mara Group – does want to buy the whole stake, it would have to stump up at least the current market value of 76.8bn rand (£3.7bn). - Daily Telegraph

Shareholders in Citigroup staged a significant rebellion over its executive pay scheme on Tuesday as more than a third of votes were cast against the bank. Citi this year increased the potential pay package for Michael Corbat, chief executive, by 27 per cent to $16.5m. Leading corporate governance groups that advise investors, Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis, took issue with the scheme. The pay plans were approved but 36.4 per cent of votes were cast against. - FT

Volvo is set to run self-driving versions of its family 4x4s on roads around London next year as the motor industry’s trial of autonomous vehicles accelerates. While self-driving pods and shuttles were already due to operate on pavements in Greenwich and Milton Keynes this summer, the Swedish carmaker is planning to test autonomous vehicles on public roads in the capital from 2017. - The Guardian