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Monday newspaper round-up: BP, easyJet, Royal Mail

Your Money
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Your Money
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25/11/2013

Judge accuses BP lawyers of “deeply disappointing” actions; easyJet pilots in France to take strike action on Monday; Royal Mail expected to report half-year profits have risen by a modest 5.6%.

The judge hearing the civil case over the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico has strongly criticised BP, accusing the company’s lawyers of “deeply disappointing” actions. In an order released late on Friday, Judge Carl Barbier said BP had made a “startling” reversal of its previous statements as it pursued its court battle to block what it sees as excessive compensation payments under the settlement for victims of the spill it agreed last year, The Financial Times writes.

easyJet pilots in France are to take strike action on Monday after accusing the airline of failing to share record profits with its staff. A spokesman for easyJet, which is Europe’s second-largest budget carrier after Ryanair and operates from 12 French airports, said it did not plan to cancel flights but warned that customers could suffer delays as a result of action by the SNPL union, which counts 90% of easyJet pilots among its members, The Guardian reports.

Royal Mail is expected to report on Wednesday that half-year profits have risen by a modest 5.6%, but the figures could be overcast by the threat of industrial action. Union bosses, who are due to meet on Monday, have until Wednesday to decide whether to go ahead with a strike over pay and terms, meaning the action could be announced on the same day that Royal Mail issues the first results since its recent flotation. Royal Mail shares closed at 538p on Friday, up from the 330p float price, The Daily Mail says.

Policymakers risk “digging a big hole” for future generations by persisting with low interest rates and quantitative easing five years after the crisis struck, according to Robert Zoellick, the former head of the World Bank. Countries are becoming dangerously dependent on stimulus policies and need to be encouraging the private sector to start driving growth, he said, The Times reports.

Every time a house comes on the market, nearly seven buyers spring up to chase the property, driving prices across Britain almost £6,000 higher in just one month. Research from Sequence, the estate agency group, shows that the average house price rose by 3% between September and October to £209,923, a rise of £5,583 in one month alone. Compared with October last year, prices have risen by 11%, The Times says.

Companies could create more than 200,000 jobs over the next 12 months if the Chancellor uses next month’s autumn statement to cut jobs taxes, according to a report published today. Confidence among small businesses and mid-caps has “skyrocketed” over the past three months, and firms are now demanding changes to their employers’ national insurance contributions (NIC) to further boost economic growth, The Scotsman says.