Thursday newspaper round-up: Thames Water, Toblerone, Rolls-Royce

(Sharecast News) - A group of creditors to troubled Thames Water are poised to vote on whether to grant an emergency £2.4bn loan to keep the company afloat, as campaigners raise concerns it could add £40 to each household's bills in interest alone. A consortium of creditors, called London & Valley Water, will vote on Thursday on whether to increase a funding facility for the debt-laden utility company to £5.4bn to keep it operating to autumn 2027. - Guardian

The owner of Toblerone is taking legal action against a tiny British vegan chocolate brand which it claims has been copying the Swiss chocolate bar's famous chunky shape. Mondelz has filed papers at the high court in London accusing Catherine's Original's of "passing off" and trademark infringement with its O'bar - a length of chocolate divided into segments each with a rounded semi-oval hump. - Guardian

Gulf sovereign wealth funds face a tax raid on their UK property investments for the first time under plans unveiled by the Chancellor. John Healey said the Government would begin taxing income and gains from UK property held by sovereign wealth funds from 2029. The move is estimated to raise £700m for the Treasury. The new rules will hit Gulf states particularly hard. The Qatar Investment Authority, for example, owns a large part of the Shard Quarter in London Bridge, Harrods department store in Knightsbridge and HSBC's former headquarters at 8 Canada Square in Canary Wharf. - Telegraph

Ministers have agreed to hand Rolls-Royce up to £1.25bn of taxpayer support under a deal to ensure the engineering giant's next jet engine is built in Britain. The FTSE 100 company confirmed plans for £2.5bn to be invested over the next 10 years as it develops a new turbofan engine for the lucrative short-haul aircraft market. It is expected to create 3,300 domestic jobs by 2029 and will be seen as a victory for the UK following a charm offensive by German and US politicians. They have been seeking to secure work for their own industries with generous offers of support. - Telegraph

A tax increase on banks has provoked a backlash from lenders despite a less painful raid by the chancellor than the City had feared. JPMorgan Chase, the American bank that employs about 23,000 people in Britain, said John Healey's decision to target the industry "lacks principle" after he raised the corporation tax surcharge on profits that is levied on lenders to 6 per cent from 3 per cent. - The Times