Sunday newspaper round-up: BP, Smith&Nephew, TalkTalk

(Sharecast News) - Activist investor Bluebell has asked for BP chairman Helge Lund's head due to the oil giant's "embarrassing" share price performance. Whilst Shell or American rivals Chevron and ExxonMobil had doubled down on profitable fossil fuels, BP had followed a green strategy. Reports indicate that BP's new boss, Murray Auchinloss, was looking to pivot back to oil and gas in response to pressure from shareholders. Yet the company had not confirmed those reports and was not due to provide a strategy update until February. - Financial Mail on Sunday



Dragoneye, the London-based research outfit for short-sellers, has accused Smith & Nephew of deploying "aggressive" accounting techniques to boost its profit margins. The self-proclaimed "financial detectives" allege that the manufacturer inappropriately deferred costs and did not properly account for stock write-offs. The result, Dragoneye says, has been to boost the company's profit margins last year by 1.7 percentage points to 17.5%. - The Sunday Times

Deloitte has quit as TalkTalk's auditor after more than two decades in the role. The firm said the rotation had been planned during the previous year, following the broadband group's break-up. RSM will replace it. The change also comes as TalkTalk is facing another squeeze on its finances. Shareholders recently injected £235m into TalkTalk to keep it from collapsing, but analysts are still worried about its debt servicing costs. - The Sunday Telegraph

A multitude of Labour MPs are vehemently asking the Chancellor to spend tens of billions more on creaking public services as part of her budget, which is expected to include tax hikes on employers and wealthy individuals. In a huge gamble, Rachel Reeves is studying a boost to employers- national insurance contributions. - Guardian