THE DAILY BRIEFING

ITALIAN SALE

the scandal-hit Italian arm of BT could be ditched at a loss. the firm has reportedly hired Credit Suisse to find a new owner for the troubled division, which was landed with a £530m black hole last year after it emerged regional bosses had sought to falsely inflate profits.

BONUS MISS

the ousted boss of Stobart is set to miss out on £7m of bonuses after a boardroom bust-up. andrew tinkler was sacked for allegedly putting his own interests ahead of the firm, but is trying to wrest back control.

LOBBYING DEAL

Russian energy firm En+ is paying a top US lobbyist £82,000 a month to defend it from sanctions. the company wants to persuade US authorities that it is working hard to reduce the influence of owner oleg Deripaska, an oligarch with close ties to the Kremlin.

DIVIDEND BONANZA

the boss of bookmaker Betfred is to pocket a £10.2m dividend. Fred Done will trouser the payment as his firm prepares to axe as many as 4,500 staff in the wake of a crackdown on high-stakes betting machines.

TOP SPOT

a major international survey has ranked London as the world’s most desirable city to work in. the capital beat new York, Berlin and Barcelona to the top spot in a study by the Boston Consulting Group and recruitment site totaljobs.