Thursday newspaper round-up: Train companies, gambling, L&G, Walt Disney
Train companies are deterring passengers from claiming compensation for delays by asking for detailed and irrelevant information, according to the consumer group Which?. Some train firms demand up to 24 different pieces of information on claim forms – although others pay compensation automatically following delays. Which? accused the rail firms of “making passengers navigate a compensation maze” – and benefiting from not paying out to those who find the process too cumbersome. – Guardian
Gambling laws should be radically overhauled, including a mandatory tax on the industry to fund addiction treatment, according to the authors of a paper. The report, which was published in the British Medical Journal, claimed that the economic cost of gambling-related harm had been “significantly underestimated” and pointed to research that linked betting addiction to suicide. – Guardian
Legal & General plans to build 3,000 retirement dwellings over the next five years in a multi-million pound push into a sector with “staggering” growth opportunities. The financial services giant has created a new business called Guild Living to build and operate retirement villages in urban areas where it says there is not nearly enough high-quality accommodation. – Telegraph
Standard Chartered has promised to engage more with its shareholders after it narrowly survived an investor backlash over pay. More than a third of investors who voted at the emerging markets-focused bank's annual general meeting on Wednesday pushed back on its pay policy amid fears senior executives were being excessively rewarded. – Telegraph
Amid all the focus on new technology and income streams, it was Walt Disney’s tried-and-tested theme parks that were the stars of the show in the entertainment conglomerate’s second-quarter results last night. An increase in visitor numbers underpinned profit and revenue figures that were both higher than expected, in turn lifting the company’s shares in late trading in New York. – The Times
The legal battle between Mike Lynch, the British entrepreneur who founded Autonomy, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise, the American technology company, took an unexpected turn in the High Court yesterday when the lawyer acting for Mr Lynch appeared to successfully undermine the credibility of a key witness. Christopher Egan, 51, the former head of Autonomy’s American business, had directly linked Mr Lynch, 53, with alleged attempts to artificially inflate revenue at the Cambridge-based group before its sale to Hewlett-Packard, the computer maker, in 2011. – The Times