Sunday newspaper round-up: Ireland, United Utilities, Tesco

The Irish government has been given a stark warning from some of the biggest American companies in Ireland on the risk of a mass exodus if the country's low corporation tax rate is raised. The warning - from executives at Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard (HP), Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Intel - spoke of the "damaging impact" on Ireland's "ability to win and retain investment" should the country's corporation tax rate be increased from 12.5%, the Sunday Telegraph reports. The chief executive of United Utilities is poised to step down after five years at the country's second-biggest water utility. Philip Green, 57, could announce his resignation as early as Wednesday, when the FTSE 100 giant reveals half-yearly earnings. The trigger for his departure is a five-year bonus deal he signed when he was appointed in December 2005. He spent £650,000 on shares when he was hired, which the company pledged to match, reports the Sunday Times.Tesco has lashed out at an analyst who accused the supermarket giant of "papering over cracks" with its Clubcard voucher sales. Dave McCarthy, retail analyst at Evolution Securities, criticised the way Tesco records its Clubcard voucher transactions as cash, thereby raising its top-line sales. "In our view, Tesco is not in as good a shape as it purports and its sales reporting is an attempt to paper over the cracks rather than dealing with the real issues of price and quality," said McCarthy, a long-term bear on Tesco. Lucy Neville-Rolfe, corporate and legal affairs director at Tesco, rubbished his claim, according to the Sunday Times.Revised figures for Britain's economy are set to show this week that the recovery has been weaker than previously reported. While growth in the third quarter is expected to be unrevised at 0.8%, analysts are braced for a downward revision of the economy's exceptionally strong 1.2% growth rate in the second quarter, the Sunday Times reports. The future growth of Sky News will be put at risk if regulators block News Corp's $12.5bn (£7.8bn) bid for the broadcaster, BSkyB's independent directors have warned. In a submission to Ofcom, the communications regulator, BSkyB's independent directors have said that rejecting a bid from News Corp on the grounds of a loss of plurality of news could "increase the risk of that very situation", the Sunday Telegraph reports.The Government will launch a review of environmental regulation of North Sea oil and gas rigs in January in the wake of BP's catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The move comes as oil giants from Chevron to BP prepare to launch ambitious deep-water drilling campaigns in sensitive areas west of Shetland for the first time, reports the Sunday Telegraph.Farmers' union leader Peter Kendall has issued a chilling warning that milk and cheese prices could rise and the country could become reliant on imports unless action is taken to create a sustainable British dairy industry. Kendall, president of the National Farmers' Union, complained that the market had been warped by direct contracts between retailers and a minority of farmers who are guaranteed a premium to the farm-gate price for their milk, the Observer reports. BHP Billiton, the world's largest mining company, is under fire from shareholders for refusing to rule out another mega-merger in the wake of its failed £24bn bid for Potash Corporation of Canada. One investor told the Observer that BHP was "deluded" if it thought shareholders would support another big deal after the failure of three major transactions in as many years. Two out of three have run into the ground due to opposition from regulators, says the Observer.Vauxhall chiefs have appealed to the Government to boost the failing car components industry as the car giant faces growing financial losses. Despite efforts to source components locally, Vauxhall has been forced to import expensive parts, then export the finished products. Nick Reilly, head of General Motors Europe which includes Vauxhall and Opel, said that GM Europe lost £1.18 billion last year, reports the Mail on Sunday. Meanwhile, several newspapers have been reporting on changes within the UK retail sector. Poundland, the high street retail chain where customers can buy everything from two litres of milk to Daniel Craig's unauthorised biography for a quid, is looking to sell its products online. Its chief executive, Jim McCarthy, said the private equity-owned chain is drawing up plans to sell homeware, fancy dress and party items over the internet within two years, the Independent on Sunday reports.Next intends to open stores with garden centres as part of its plan for bigger stores to sell its full range of clothing and homewares. The high street retailer hopes to agree a deal to open a store on the south coast in Shoreham at a former Homebase DIY store. It is planning to sell both clothing and homewares in the 50,000 sq ft store, as well as garden furniture and other outdoor products in its outdoor garden centre, the Independent on Sunday reports.J Sainsbury and US retail giant Best Buy have launched VAT-dodging CD and DVD websites ahead of the busy Christmas trading rush in the hope of cashing in on the booming popularity of online sales. The pair are the latest blue-chip retailers to set up complex and circuitous shipping arrangements for goods offered on their websites for less than £18. By dispatching orders from the Channel Islands direct to customers' homes on the UK mainland, these transactions do not attract VAT under an arcane EU tax relief directive, the Observer reports. Fashion label All Saints has agreed a complex £20 million loan facility with its Icelandic backers to boost expansion. Chief executive Stephen Craig said the loan had been arranged to support a 'quantum leap' for the business with the addition of its first ten US stores this year, the Mail on Sunday reports. Dixons Retail, the group that owns Currys and PC World, will this week unveil a radical overhaul of customer service with the launch of a 'Knowhow' division. The retailer plans to scrap its Techguys brand and replace it in March with a more comprehensive instore and delivery service, the Mail on Sunday reports.