A cash call would be the quickest way for IAG to tackle its €12.3bn of debt and begin paying a dividend again, HSBC aviation analyst Andrew Lobbenberg said. If not, then the carrier would have to resort to its cash flows. Any decision on a rights issue would likely be taken by the company’s new bos, Nicholas Cadbury, when he started early the following year. Lobbenberg had already said in September that plans to raise cash for IAG might follow positive news such as the reopening of travel to the US. – Financial Mail on Sunday
Four former employees of The Hut Group allege that they were dismissed from the online beauty and nutrition retailer after trying to blow the whistle on health and safety breaches. The four have lodged a roughly £22m lawsuit against the company for breach of contract and wrongful dismissal. The lawsuit from the four former employee’s of THG’s manufacturing and distribution facility in Shepherdsville, Kentucky, was filed in July 2020, two months before the company floated on the stock market. – Sunday Times
Ministers may be set to launch a ‘phase 2’ probe investigation into the proposed £30bn acquisition of ARM by US chip giant Nvidia. The digital and culture secretary will instruct the competition watchdog to carry out an in-depth inquiry into competition concerns and to look into national security concerns. The launch of the phase 2 inquiry, which was expected to be announced on Tuesday, will deal a heavy blow to Nvidia with the transaction now facing lengthy delays and regulators in the European Union and China also scrutinising it. – Sunday Times
Vodafone chief executive Nick Read voiced frustration with the telecommunication operator’s share price in an interview. He said his chief goal was to prove to investors that telecoms could be a growth sector. “I think Vodafone is different – it is differentiated because of the scale that we bring and we can make targeted investments,” he said. He also called for cooperation in the sector, arguing that it was destroying value by duplicating infrastructure. He had also clearly put some thought into merging in some way with Three. – Sunday Times
Investors have branded Lord Rothermere’s £850m bid for the publisher of the Daily Mail an “opportunistic” bid at an unfair price. According to shareholders, what was on offer was a choice between accepting a cheap price or being caught in a small illiquid firm with no voting rights. Majedie, who owned a 4.6% stake in DMGT, had previously called for investors to reject the offer, arguing that it was “substantially below” a fair valuation. – Sunday Telegraph
Royal Mail is about to expand its Sunday parcel delivery service. That follows the start of a trial scheme in March delivering parcels for a few major retailers, including the likes of Moonpig and florist Bloom&Wild, with more retailers set to sign up. A label-less collection service which had already been piloted in four areas was to be rolled out across the country. Analysts at Bernstein described the moves by the company was “very commercial”, saying that Royal Mail had been squeezed by the likes of DPD and Hermes on quality and cost. – Financial Mail on Sunday
