Oct 24 (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
- Big banks are expected to take another 2 billion pound hit on payment protection insurance this week because of the longer time allowed for new claims. Lenders will make the provisions with quarterly results that will be scrutinised for the impact of Brexit on the economy, while the weakening pound and heightened market activity will also have an affect on results. http://bit.ly/2e1Pl3J
- Deutsche Bank is set to declare a bumper loss for the third quarter with tougher capital requirements for banks deemed to be of global importance to the world's financial system threatening to add to its woes. It is expected to announce a net loss of 610 million euros ($663.56 million)for the quarter, according to analysts, an average forecast loss for the year of 1.4 billion euros. http://bit.ly/2e1OQXc
The Guardian
- A consortium made up of private-equity firms and the Church of England has received at least 180 million pounds ($219.94 million)from Royal Bank of Scotland for backing the bailed-out bank's aborted attempt to float off 300 branches on the stock market. The bank has already admitted that the attempt to carve out the 300 branches under the Williams & Glyn (IPO-WILL.L) brand has cost 1.5 billion pounds. http://bit.ly/2e1PQea
- Office for National Statistics is expected to say growth more than halved from 0.7 percent in the second quarter to 0.3 percent between July and September. This would be the slowest rate of growth since the third quarter of 2015, but would rule out the prospect of a technical recession. http://bit.ly/2e1OlfM
The Telegraph
- Microsoft is to increase its prices by as much as 22 percent in the UK because of sterling's recent decline, a rise that is likely to affect thousands of businesses and could cost the Governments tens of millions of pounds. http://bit.ly/2e1RtID
Sky News
- French insurance giant Axa is in advanced discussions to sell Bluefin, one of the UK's biggest insurance broking networks, to Marsh, the US-headquartered giant. http://bit.ly/2e1Pnsw
- Britain's biggest banks are preparing to move out of the UK amid growing fears over the ramifications of leaving the European Union. The head of the British Bankers' Association, Anthony Browne, said "many smaller banks" are planning to move their operations overseas before Christmas. http://bit.ly/2e1NJH3
The Independent
- British American Tobacco has offered to buy the shares of Reynolds American that it doesn't already own for $47 billion in a bid to create the world's biggest tobacco company. http://ind.pn/2e1OFeP ($1 = 0.9193 euros) ($1 = 0.8184 pounds) (Compiled by Sangameswaran S in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Cooney)