Thursday newspaper round-up: Pay gap, Barclay brothers, Facebook, HSBC
Women around the globe may have to wait more than two centuries to achieve equality in the workplace, according to new research. The World Economic Forum, best known for its annual gathering in the Swiss resort of Davos, said it would take 217 years for disparities in the pay and employment opportunities of men and women to end. This is significantly longer than the 170 years its researchers calculated a year ago. – Guardian
The billionaire Barclay brothers have lost a legal battle with HM Revenue & Customs, after the supreme court ruled that they are not owed £1.25bn related to tax overpayments. The UK’s highest court ruled on Wednesday that HMRC should not have to repay Littlewoods, the retailer owned Frederick and David Barclay, more than £1bn in “compound interest” on historic VAT overpayments. - Guardian
Shares in Facebook oscillated in Wednesday after-hours trading as mobile advertising continued to drive revenue growth, but it warned over a hit to profitability from growing investment in security. Revenue for the three months ended Sep 30 was up 47pc on a year earlier to $10.3bn (£7.8bn), thanks to a 49pc increase in advertising revenue. Of this advertising revenue, around 88pc came from mobile adverts, up from 84pc a year earlier. – Telegraph
Alex Salmond has joined a plot to topple the board and senior management of Johnston Press, pledging to revitalise the struggling publisher of the Scotsman and shift its corporate headquarters back north of the border. The Telegraph can reveal that the former First Minister of Scotland is collaborating with Christen Ager-Hanssen, the Norwegian activist investor behind the planned coup, who intends to nominate him to become chairman of Johnston Press. – Telegraph
Nearly half a million British businesses are in “significant financial distress” in what Begbies Traynor described yesterday as the calm before a looming storm of insolvencies The restructuring specialist said that the number of businesses experiencing financial distress had reached “unprecedented” levels over the past 12 months. Many had “overstretched themselves, taking too many risks after being lulled into a false sense of security by the continued low interest rate environment”. – The Times
HSBC has been accused by Lord Hain, the former Labour cabinet minister, of “complicity” in a South African scandal involving allegations of money laundering by the Gupta family. Speaking in the House of Lords yesterday, he told peers that he had asked the Treasury to investigate an unnamed bank over claims that it had ignored warnings about the source of funds transferred by the Guptas. – The Times