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Sunday newspaper round-up: C&W, Tomkins, BAE Systems

Sun 28 Dec 2003


LONDON (SHARECAST) - Richard Lapthorne, the businessman parachuted in to rescue Cable & Wireless, is set to make more than £2.5m in his first year as chairman of the telecoms group, thanks to a large number of shares and options in the group, says the Sunday Times.

Greg Hutchings, the former chief executive of Tomkins that was ousted three years ago, is preparing to make a stock-market comeback, reports the Sunday Times. Some bankers believe he is in talks to inject capital into a stock-market minnow called Lupus Capital, capitalised at £14m, says the paper.

The Ministry of Defence is on a collision course with BAE Systems over the defence group’s attempts to get a bigger budget for two aircraft carriers to be built for the Royal Navy, according to the Sunday Times.

The Sunday Times reports that Doncasters, the engineering group bought out by Royal Bank of Scotland in 2001, has been forced to restructure more than £400m of debt after a slump in demand from the power-generation and aerospace industries.

Cancer drug developer Cyclacel has raised about £20m in a fourth round of venture-capital backing, the last before it floats, having now raised more than £70m since it was set up seven years ago, says the Sunday Times.

The Sunday Telegraph reports that International Power is close to buying two of Britain's largest coal-fired power stations, Fiddler's Ferry in Cheshire and Ferry Bridge in West Yorkshire, and is believed to be paying about £300m.

Figures released yesterday by SPSL, the retail consultancy, have revealed that shopper numbers fell year-on-year by 1.2% on Boxing Day, increasing fears about the health of the high street, reports the Sunday Telegraph.

Adam Novak, head of the business that sells Royal Mail's services to other postal groups, has quit his job, just days after a ground-breaking deal was struck with its rival, Business Post, reports the Independent on Sunday.

Sainsbury's will not cut the quality of its product range when it launches its price-cutting campaign next summer, chief executive Sir Peter Davis said during a pre-Christmas store visit, according to the Observer.

Trevor Birch, chief executive of Leeds United, is being lined up to become executive chairman if Royal Mail boss Allan Leighton saves the struggling Premiership club from administration, according to the Mail on Sunday.