Monday newspaper round-up: Lloyds, new post-Brexit data, banks

(ShareCast News) - Thousands of retail investors are likely to be denied the chance of buying shares in Lloyds Banking Group at a discount as the government is expected to abandon the plan in the aftermath of market uncertainty caused by Brexit. The government put plans for a "Tell Sid" offer of Lloyds shares on hold in January because of market turmoil, though City sources believe that Chancellor Philip Hammond is about to abandon permanently the eye-catching offer that was announced by his predecessor during the Conservative Party conference in October last year. - The Times Business confidence has fallen by less than expected after Britain's vote to leave the European Union, while shoppers have largely shrugged off Brexit, the latest monthly surveys show. The accountancy firm BDO said its business trends figures for July found minor falls in optimism, based on growth prospects six months out, and in output, measuring "companies' experience of orders for the three months ahead". - The TimesBritain's vote to leave the EU has had little immediate impact on people's spending habits, according to new figures that suggest more money was splashed out on clothes, meals out and day trips in July. Consumer spending picked up in July as the warm weather provided an incentive to eat out and buy new summer clothes, figures from Visa compiled by Markit showed, contrasting with signs of a drop in business activity following the June vote to leave the EU. - GuardianManufacturing companies are spurning bank financing and hoarding cash, raising fears that firms will cut investment following the Brexit vote and spurring calls for the competition regulator to reform the services lenders offer to businesses. Some 55pc of companies have amassed more cash on their balance sheets compared to before the financial crisis, according to a survey by the EEF, the organisation that represents the engineering and manufacturing industries. - TelegraphBusinesses are trying to persuade the government to slow or even abandon its policy to raise the "national living wage" to one of the highest rates in the developed world by 2020. At least 16 trade associations have written jointly to Greg Clark, the new business secretary, recommending that he "exercise caution" on the national living wage in light of the "economic uncertainties the country faces" after the Brexit vote. - Financial TimesFootball fans are likely to face more increases in the cost of watching matches at home, as the media watchdog will today drop its two-year investigation of the Premier League's multi-billion-pound TV rights auction. Ofcom will abandon work on a complaint from the cable operator Virgin Media, after concluding that it does not have the capacity to assess either way whether the way the Premier League sells rights is harming consumers. - TelegraphOverdraft fees and an easier system of moving personal and small business accounts are expected to be at the centre of measures intended to bolster competition in the banking sector. After a two-year investigation into the banking sector, the measures to be published on Tuesday will focus on how customers can switch accounts away from the high street "big four". Lloyds Banking Group, Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays and HSBC hold more than 70% of the current account and small business sectors that generate £14bn of revenue for the industry a year. - GuardianThe Serious Fraud Office has launched a criminal inquiry into alleged fraud, bribery and corruption in relation to commercial jet sales by Airbus, the European aircraft-maker disclosed last night. The formal investigation comes after Airbus admitted in April that it was in talks with the SFO over the use of third-party agents in aircraft deals which it was asking the British government to cover with financing guarantees. - The TimesThe Pensions Regulator is facing the prospect of an overhaul as MPs investigate its role. The work and pensions committee will examine whether the regulator should be given new powers to block takeovers if pension schemes are not adequately funded. The review comes after the BHS scandal put the retirement savings of 20,000 people at risk. - The TimesThree of Europe's biggest energy groups are looking to make progress with multibillion-dollar asset disposal programmes before the end of this year, despite pressure on valuations from low oil prices. Total of France is aiming to sell its Atotech chemicals subsidiary this autumn in a deal expected by analysts to raise about $3bn, and Eni of Italy says talks to offload part of a big Mozambique gasfield are at an "advanced stage". - Financial TimesThe future of farming after Britain leaves the EU is likely to see an end to direct subsidies to farmers, many of whom are calling instead for measures to support a profitable market. "Most farmers do not want to have a subsidy," said Minette Batters, deputy president of the National Farmers' Union, a Wiltshire beef farmer and Brexit supporter. - Financial TimesThe bosses of Britain's largest public companies earned an average of £5.5m last year, and have enjoyed a 10% pay rise while wages in the rest of the economy lag far behind. Rapid inflation for the country's best paid executives is being driven by a small, all-male group at the top of the corporate tree, according to the High Pay Centre, which published its annual survey on earnings at FTSE 100 companies on Monday. - GuardianBT Group believes that it has more room than its rivals to raise prices for customers in an effort to retain Premier League television rights after 2018. The boss of the company's consumer division has warned that future auctions for top-flight football rights will be "limited by consumers' willingness to pay", as it prepares to broadcast the first matches in its joint £5.14 billion three-year deal with Sky Sports this weekend. - The TimesThe government should prioritise the creation of a more ambitious high-speed rail network linking England's northern cities to address the "stark" shortfall in investment compared with London, according to a UK thinktank. The IPPR says the chancellor, Philip Hammond, should take advantage of record low government borrowing costs to fund an ambitious new HS3 scheme. This high-speed line could connect Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle and other major cities, boosting economic growth across the region. - GuardianA leading peer-to-peer lending platform exposed ordinary investors to a company linked to a twice former bankrupt who has a string of failed companies behind him, The Times can reveal. Saving Stream lent millions of pounds of consumers' money against assets linked to Desmond Phillips, whose companies have been accused in parliament of using "fraudulent valuations" to cheat farmers out of their land. - The Times