WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING
THE SUNDAYS
The Sunday Telegraph
WOMEN DIRECTORS EARN 50PC LESS THAN MEN
Female board directors in the FTSE 350 are being paid half as much as their male counterparts, new research has found. The average female board director took home £178,246 in salary, bonuses, benefits and pension contributions in the 2008-09 financial year, while the average male director received £357,358.
EMI PUBLISHING IS ON SONG
EMI Music Publishing has helped the entertainment group to an improved operating performance, although stalled discussions with its main creditor continue to dog the business. New figures show that its music publishing arm, which owns the rights to songs written by stars like Norah Jones, enjoyed a 14.6per cent increase in sales in the year to March.
THE SUNDAY TIMES
CONCORDE RUNS OUT OF ROOM AT HEATHROW
Concorde may have to leave Heathrow, its spiritual home, because British Airways is struggling to find space to put it on display. The supersonic airliner was grounded in 2003 after nearly 30 years in service. Air France and BA sent the planes to museums and airports around the world. Six are on display in the UK and BA retained one to put on show at Heathrow.
RBS DUMPING TOXIC ASSETS ON IRELAND
Royal Bank of Scotland is poised to spark a diplomatic row with Ireland by attempting to dump £7bn of toxic loans into the Irish “bad bank”. Stephen Hester is expected to lodge an application to join Ireland’s National Asset Management Agency (Nama) over the next few weeks.
TODAY
FINANCIAL TIMES
EBAY SITE CRASHES DUE TO SURGE IN LISTINGS
Ebay became a victim of its own success at the weekend after a surge in the number of items for sale caused the world’s largest online auction site to crash. Millions of shoppers were first unable to search for items on the website on Saturday, during the crucial run-up to Christmas, after a computer system failure.
MICROSOFT AND NEWS CORP EYE WEB PACT
Microsoft has had discussions with News Corp over a plan that would involve the media company’s being paid to “de-index” its news websites from Google, setting the scene for a search engine battle that could offer a ray of light to the newspaper industry.
The Daily Telegraph
SITE SALE ENDS TESCO STRATAGEM
Five years after first being ordered to by competition authorities, Tesco has sold the site of a former Co-op store it purchased and then knocked down in an apparent attempt to stave off a challenge to its own nearby hypermarket. The sale to rival J Sainsbury – to be announced today – brings to an end a controversial saga which the Competition Commission concluded last year had “significantly reduced competition”.
UTILITIES FACE RIGHTS ISSUES AND CUTS
Leading water companies are facing the threat of rights issues and dividend cuts ahead of a landmark ruling by Ofwat this week. The regulator is expected to deliver a blow to the utilities by placing tough restrictions on customer price rises, while making only small concessions to compensate.
THE TIMES
MOD SPENT £149M ON TANKS UNFIT FOR SERVICE
The Ministry of Defence has been criticised for spending £149m on an “urgent” upgrade to 900 tanks that can still only be used for training. The armoured vehicles will be used in Canada and Britain because they offer insufficient protection against mines in Afghanistan. A defence source described the procurement, at a time when equipment shortages for troops have caused public anger, as a waste of money.
NATIONAL EXPRESS FUNDRAISING WILL TEST SHAREHOLDER DEMOCRACY
The future of National Express could be decided this week by short-selling hedge funds and the banks that have lent them 18 per cent of its stock, in what will be seen as a key test for shareholder democracy.