What the other papers say this morning – 17 February 2014
FINANCIAL TIMES
Merkel backs EU internet services
Momentum for a radical response to the National Security Agency spy scandal is building after Germany’s chancellor backed calls for European internet services that are walled off from the US. Angela Merkel said she would press François Hollande, the French president, to back a push for EU-based alternatives to the current US-dominated internet infrastructure when she holds talks on Wednesday.
Carworker wages fall despite profit rise
The rewards from the UK’s car production boom are not filtering through to all blue-collar workers on the production line, as the lowest-paid see their earnings being eroded despite a surge in output and profits. A sharp rise in agency staff and temporary contracts at the UK’s booming car factories has meant the average wage for almost a third of the industry’s workforce has fallen in real terms over the past four years, according to an FT investigation.
Citi rules out setting up India subsidiary
Citigroup has become the first of the “big three” foreign participants to rule out establishing a separately capitalised subsidiary in India’s fastgrowing banking market, in the wake of regulatory moves by the government designed to shake up the sector.Last year Indian central bank governor Raghuram Rajan unveiled rules governing foreign banks, as part of wider reforms to boost competition and attract foreign participants into the country’s state-dominated banking market.
THE TIMES
William Hill races to find new chief
William Hill is poised to fire the starting gun in its search for its new chief executive as it seeks to replace Ralph Topping a year earlier than expected. The bookmaker is odds-on to appoint somebody from outside the firm amid indications that leading internal candidates are not yet ready for the role.
Lawyers’ pay outstrips lawmakers
Twentysomething trainees at Britain’s biggest law firms are set to earn more than MPs when they qualify this year. Newly qualified lawyers in elite “magic circle” firms are set to earn £67,200 each on average, up from £64,000 last year, compared with an MP’s annual salary of £66,400.
The Daily Telegraph
Reader’s Digest sold for £1
Reader’s Digest has been sold for just £1 by Better Capital to a venture capitalist whose former TV company created Bob the Builder. The sale for a nominal amount marks another chapter in the magazine publishing company’s chequered history and a steep writedown for Jon Moulton’s listed private equity firm. Better Capital bought the business for £14m in 2010.
Candy Crush creator puts IPO on hold
King, the computer games maker behind Candy Crush Saga, is expected to kick its $5bn initial public offering plans into the long grass after investors raised fears that it is a one-hit-wonder.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
EUROPE
Renault would be hit if rival in trouble
Renault would face problems of its own if French rival car maker PSA Peugeot Citroën got into serious difficulty, chief executive Carlos Ghosn said yesterday, as the supply chains of both companies often overlap.
Bitcoin exchange restores service
Bitstamp, the manager of the world’s largest bitcoin exchange said it has restored automated customer withdrawals, after they were halted for four days because of a hacking attack that crippled various platforms for exchanging the digital currency.