PRESS DIGEST-British Business - Feb 8
Feb 8 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories on the business pages of British newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
The Times
** The French defence company Thales and its Norwegian subcontractor Kongsberg are in the crosshairs as the government seeks compensation for engineering problems that have taken the 3.2 billion pounds ($3.86 billion) aircraft carrier Prince of Wales out of commission.
** New official figures show that of the 4.1 billion pounds the government has paid to lenders for defaulted credit under the bounce back loan scheme, 640 million pounds worth of facilities were marked as "suspected fraud".
The Guardian
** Rishi Sunak has announced a mini-reshuffle to stamp his authority on the fractured Conservative party, alongside a sweeping Whitehall restructure that created four new government departments.
** Lidl has accused its bigger rival Tesco of "deception" during the latest round of a long-running legal battle between the two supermarket chains over the use of a yellow circle logo.
The Telegraph
** The number of trains running on HS2 will be almost halved and services will travel more slowly in a proposed shake-up of the 72 billion pounds line as ministers scramble to save money.
** The chief executive of BP has confirmed plans to refocus the business on fossil fuels but denied the move was motivated by the comparatively better performance of US oil giants.
Sky News
** The Bank of London set up to compete with Britain's biggest high street lenders is holding firm on its $1 billion plus valuation after receiving a further injection of $40 million.
** Britain's biggest holiday parks operator, Parkdean Resorts, is in talks about a 600 million pounds debt refinancing months after shelving a sale in the face of a deteriorating economic outlook. ($1 = 0.8293 pounds) (Compiled by Bengaluru newsroom)
