WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING
FINANCIAL TIMES
STAFF AT JOHN LEWIS BRACED FOR BONUS CUT
The John Lewis Partnership is next week expected to announce the first cut in its staff bonus for three years as high street turmoil takes its toll on the employee-owned retailer. Analysts who track the group’s weekly sales figures forecast a pay-out of 12-14 per cent of salary for the 77,000 staff at John Lewis department stores and Waitrose supermarkets.
FSA WIDENS INSIDER TRADING INVESTIGATION
One of the City regulator’s most high-profile investigations into insider trading is expanding, with the Financial Services Authority asking several institutions, including brokerages, for information on trading and other data. WH Ireland has put one of its Manchester-based traders on leave.
DEUTSCHE BANK REJECTS €800M OUT OF COURT DEAL TO SETTLE KIRCH DISPUTE
Deutsche Bank has walked away from a potential €800m out-of-court settlement with the heirs of the defunct Kirch media empire, dashing hopes of an end to the 10-year dispute.
JUDGE RAMPS UP PRESSURE ON MISSING KAZAKH MOGUL
Kazakh oligarch, Mukhtar Alyyazov, accused of siphoning off $5bn from Kazakhstan bank BTA, has until March 9 to turn himself in or be prevented from defending fraud claims, the High Court in London ordered.
THE TIMES
SUPERJUMBO WING CRACKS PUT DOWN TO BRITISH DESIGN FAULT
Wing cracks that have grounded the Airbus 380 superjumbo have been identified as the fault of design engineers at the manufacturer’s facility at Filton near Bristol. The entire fleet of the double-decker A380s is to be called in after inspections found cracks in key components in every one of the 69 aircraft in service.
VIVENDI PROFITS HIT €2.9BN
Vivendi, the French entertainment and telecoms group, announced record profits of €2.9bn (£2.4bn), up 9.4 per cent. The news came the day after its subsidiary Activision Blizzard announced 600 job cuts.
The Daily Telegraph
CHINA CLAIMS WORLD’S BIGGEST SHALE GAS RESERVES
China is planning an investment blitz to unlock its vast reserves of shale gas, convinced it can match the energy revolution under way in the US and meet a significant part of its fast-growing fuel needs. The resources ministry said yesterday that preliminary surveys showed the country had explorable shale-gas reserves of 25.1 trillion cubic metres.
OIL PRICE REPORTING MAY NEED GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION
Governments may need to intervene in the reporting of oil prices to avoid market manipulation according to regulators worried by swings in prices.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
AT&T CAPS UNLIMITED DATA PLANS
AT&T is effectively ending unlimited data plans, saying that it will no longer let customers use more than a set amount of data per month without penalty. Under a new policy, AT&T will slow download speeds for unlimited 3G and 4G smartphone customers who exceed three gigabytes and 4G LTE users who exceed five gigabytes of data in month.
ZYNGA LAUNCHES OWN SPACE FOR GAMES WITHOUT FACEBOOK
Zynga made its “Project Z” official Thursday, announcing that gamers now can play the company’s popular titles on Zynga.com instead of relying on social networks.