Tuesday newspaper round-up: News Corp, BSKyB, M&S, UKFI, deep fried Mars Bars

19th Jul 2011 06:28

Shares in News Corporation fell more than 4% in New York, as the contagion over the News of the World phone hacking scandal spread further into the US and Australia. Serious cracks appeared in Rupert Murdoch's Australian empire as the row placed key deals in jeopardy. In an echo of the furore over News Corp's proposed takeover of BSkyB in the UK, a $2bn bid by Foxtel - a pay-TV network 25% owned by News Corp - for rival network Austar faces being derailed at the eleventh hour because of political pressure to stem the power of Murdoch's organisation, reports the Telegraph.The Daily Mail reports that BSkyB shareholders stand ready to oust James Murdoch if the crisis engulfing News Corporation taints the satellite giant. Major investors told the paper that Sky's embattled chairman will be ditched at the first sign of 'reputational damage' from the escalating phone-hacking and bribery scandal. Marks & Spencer has been found guilty of failing to protect customers, staff and workers from the possibility of being exposed to asbestos during refurbishment works at its store in Reading. The clothing and food chain was subject to a three-month trial at Winchester Crown Court accused of failing to ensure all steps were taken to prevent the deadly fibres from being unleashed, the Independent reports.The chairman of UK Financial Investments (UKFI) has warned that the Independent Commission on Banking's (ICB) reforms will reduce the value of the taxpayer's stakes in Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and delay their sale. UKFI, which manages the state's holdings in Britain's banks, said it expected regulatory upheaval to continue for the next year, reports the Independent. The cost of placing ads on Facebook is rising rapidly as more big brands begin to move their television and print spending on advertising onto the world's largest social network, two recent reports have revealed. The "cost per click" of an ad placed on Facebook has increased by 74 per cent over the last year in four of the world's largest media markets, according to TBG Digital, an independent marketing firm specialising in social media, the Financial Times reports.Greenpeace activists dressed as polar bears occupied the Edinburgh offices of Cairn Energy on Monday as the environmental group stepped up the pressure on the company over its Arctic exploration plans. Last month the organisation's international head, Kumi Naidoo, was arrested after boarding a 52,000-tonne Cairn rig 75 miles off the west coast of Greenland, according to the Guardian.The boss of the UK's biggest mobile phone company is stepping down only a year after the group was created. Tom Alexander said he was quitting Everything Everywhere, formed by the merger of Orange UK and T-Mobile UK and with nearly 28 million customers, for personal reasons and to pursue other interests, according to the Daily Express.Dixons Retail chief executive John Browett saw his pay fall from £1.5m to £1m as his bonus was cut after the group slumped into the red. John Browett, who is part-way through a "renewal and transformation" drive to revive the Currys and PC World owner, was paid a basic salary of £676,000 in the year to the end of April, the Daily Express says.Whole Foods Market, the US "natural foods" giant is headed for Glasgow, home of the deep fried Mars Bar. The 23,000sq ft outlet in Gifnock, an upmarket suburb south of the Scottish city, will be the chain's first store outside London and the first to open since the launch of Whole Foods' huge outlet in High Street Kensington in 2007, reports the Telegraph.