The US Government yesterday warned BP that its troubles were far from over as it levied a record fine of $4.5 billion on the company for criminal failures arising from the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster. BP pleaded guilty to 14 criminal charges — including manslaughter, environmental violations and obstruction of Congress — in a deal that was greeted with relief by investors. However, Eric Holder, the US Attorney-General, reminded BP that a civil action was still pending in which the Administration hopes to extract yet more compensation from the company. The Times
The chief executive of Dixons Retail has backed warnings that UK retailers are at risk of collapse if the Government does not act to force foreign companies to pay their share of tax. Sebastian James said he agreed with the views of John Lewis boss Andy Street who warned on Wednesday that rivals such as Amazon would be able to use their tax position to “out-invest” and “out-trade” UK companies. Writing on Twitter, Mr James said: “I agree with Andy Street: retailers making profits in the UK should pay tax in the UK.” The Telegraph
Megafon has launched its delayed London-Moscow initial public offering, seeking to sell shares worth up to $2.1bn in a breakthrough deal for the mobile operator’s oligarch owner Alisher Usmanov. If successful, the deal will be the biggest IPO by a Russian company since early 2010 and will see the largely private metals tycoon submit to greater scrutiny by public markets. The Financial Times
A British car parts supplier has come the rescue of Manganese Bronze, the black cab maker that went bust after problems with a Chinese steering box forced it to recall 400 taxis. PricewaterhouseCoopers, the company’s administrators, last night said the recalled fleet would be fitted with new parts “from a UK supplier” and be back on the road by December 14. The Telegraph
Co-op Energy, which has 60,000 customers nationwide, will cut its electricity price by 2 per cent next month, making its average annual dual-fuel bill £178 cheaper than those of its rivals. Most of the “Big Six” suppliers are about to increase average bills by about £100 a year. British Gas’s 15 million customers will pay 6 per cent more from today. Npower will raise its prices by 9 per cent on 26 November, followed in early December by EDF (10.8%) and ScottishPower (7%). The Independent
France’s socialist government seized on better than expected economic growth figures to reject concern that France could become the next focus of the eurozone crisis, insisting it is acting to reform the flagging economy. “France is not the sick man of Europe. France remains the world’s fifth largest economic power that has all its resources but which needs to recover its competitiveness,” Pierre Moscovici, the finance minister told the FT. The Financial Times
