WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING
FINANCIAL TIMES
PFIZER WEIGHS PLANS FOR $3BN PART-IPO
Pfizer is weighing plans to raise about $3bn this year through a part-flotation of its animal health division, as the drugs giant examines the best way to spin off a business valued at as much as $18bn. The pharmaceuticals group, the world’s second largest by market capitalisation, has been talking to bankers about arranging an initial public offering that would look to place up to 19.9 per cent of the unit’s shares in the autumn, in what is known as an equity carve-out or partial spinoff, people familiar with the talks said.
MAKING NHS HOSPITALS COMPETE SAVES MONEY, PATIENT STUDY FINDS
Contentious moves to stimulate competition in the health service have been bolstered by a groundbreaking study of 2m patients that shows forcing NHS hospitals to compete with one another saves money and improves efficiency. The London School of Economics research will be released this morning.
FUJITSU TO LAUNCH HANDSETS IN EUROPE
Fujitsu will launch a wide range of smartphones and tablets for the first time in Europe as the electronics company seeks to stake a claim in the continent’s fast-growing and high-margin mobile device market.
SHELL JOINS PUSH TO DILUTE EU’S PROPOSED ANTI-CORRUPTION RULES
Royal Dutch Shell and other natural resources companies have stepped up efforts to counteract planned anti-corruption rules that would force them to disclose payments to governments in countries where they operate. The Anglo-Dutch group, Europe’s largest oil and gas company by market capitalisation, has put forward a series of alternatives.
THE TIMES
BURSARIES OPEN DOOR FOR THE POOR TO MAGIC CIRCLE
One of the City’s leading law firms is teaming up with University College London to offer students from poor backgrounds a better chance to enter the legal profession. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer said that it would offer students from disadvantaged backgrounds bursaries of £10,000 to study law at UCL while also receiving 24 weeks of paid work experience a year at the “magic circle” firm.
OPTIMISTIC INDIAN TECHNOLOGY GIANT SEES OPPORTUNITY FOR EXPANSION IN BRITAIN
India’s largest technology company, Tata Consultancy Services, is planning to hire at least 1,500 British staff this year as it seeks to expand its presence in its largest European market, says boss Natarajan Chandrasekaran.
The Daily Telegraph
LLOYDS BANK STRIPS FIVE DIRECTORS OF MORE THAN £1M IN BONUSES
Lloyds Banking Group is to strip five directors of more than £1m in bonuses as a penalty for a financial scandal that cost the taxpayer-backed bank £3.2bn last year. It will be the first time a British bank has exercised a “clawback” option on executive pay packages since the financial crisis and will lead to calls for similar moves at other lenders, including Royal Bank of Scotland. The Daily Telegraph has learned that Lloyds is taking back a bonus from senior bankers over their role in the mis-selling of payment protection insurance (PPI). Eric Daniels, Lloyds’ former chief executive, will lose at least £360,000 of his 2010 bonus. Four other current and former directors will each have to forgo about £250,000. The move comes after weeks of pressure from politicians and consumer groups over banking bonuses.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
CHINA AGREES TO INCREASED ACCESS FOR US FILMS
China and the US have reached a deal that would make it easier and more profitable for Hollywood studios to show their films in China, a development that Vice President Joe Biden said would “significantly increase” access for American-made films. The agreement represents an effort to resolve a standoff that dates to 2009, when the World Trade Organization ruled that China’s policy of allowing 20 foreign films a year to be shown there violated international trade rules.
KINGFISHER AIR’S ACCOUNTS FROZEN AGAIN
India’s tax authorities have once again frozen the bank accounts of Kingfisher Airlines, due to the cash-strapped airline’s inability to clear its unpaid service taxes.