LONDON (ShareCast) - Tesco is testing a discount format in its One Stop chain, indicating the group could be considering new ways to combat Aldi and Lidl, the Sunday Times said. Three One Stop branches have been trading as discounters with low prices and limited ranges for the past seven weeks. The trial is the idea of One Stop's boss Tony Reed and is not monitored by Tesco's board.
Oil explorers have been left high and dry by the falling price of oil, the Sunday Times reported. Tudor Pickering Holt, a US stockbroker, said Afren would have to raise equity or debt without a takeover from a rival. Tullow Oil, Rockhopper Exploration and Enquest face similar problems. The boss of a FTSE 100 producer said times like these separate the men from the boys.

Sainsbury's was besieged by short-sellers last year as hedge-funds bet the grocer would be hit by price cuts in the industry, the Sunday Telegraph said. Sainsbury's shares suffered the most sustained shorting activity of any company in the FTSE 350, according to research firm Markit. Sainsbury's shares on loan reached a record 18.4% at the end of October.

Sainsbury's is accused of delaying payment to contractors that built and refitted its stores, the Sunday Times alleged. The supermarket chain wrote to contractors through the law firm Dentons, increasing to 82 days from 30 days the time contractors must wait for payment.

Household incomes are likely to increase in 2015 but living standards are unlikely to reach their pre-crisis peak until the year after at the earliest, the Financial Times said. The paper cited a forecast from the Resolution Foundation think tank, which specialises in living standards. Households may not feel better off by May's general election because consumer confidence has been falling.

Glencore has paid back $2.3bn to some of its earliest investors after the falling price of commodities hit its share price, according to the Sunday Times. Glencore sold bonds five years ago to investors such as US private equity firm First Reserve. The convertible bonds matured the week before Christmas at 335p a share, well above the current price. Glencore paid off $1.7bn of the securities, having bought back $550m earlier in 2014.

The Bank of England (BoE) will examine debt-funded takeovers as fears grow that banks are lending too much to private equity firms with record war chests, the Sunday Times said. The BoE will carry out spot checks on Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland. The US regulator has already clamped down on leveraged loans.

The Chief Economist of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development has warned there is no end in sight for Russia's economic crisis, the Sunday Telegraph said. Catherine Mann told the paper that Russia was getting closer to shutting itself off and that Western sanctions would be painful. She also said oil will fall to $50 a barrel in 2015 if Opec maintains supply and growth stays tepid.

Supermarket suppliers face a "perfect storm" that could cause widespread failures of small and medium-sized firms, the Sunday Telegraph reported, citing trade credit insurer Atradius. The insurer said suppliers to the big four grocers could be delisted and have payment terms extended as supermarkets cut the number of products they sell and seek to ease their cash flow.

Lloyds Banking Group is likely to lose more than £10m from the collapse of the Marussia Formula One team, according to administrators. Lloyds Development Capital, the bank's private equity arm, tops a list of more than 200 creditors owed £31.4m, the Sunday Telegraph reported.

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