Aug 23 (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
- The future of subprime banking group Provident Financial Plc PFG.L was thrown into doubt after a mammoth profit warning, the resignation of its chief executive, a belated admission that it was being investigated by regulators and the reversal of a promised dividend. The Bank of England should shut down its 115 billion pound ($147.43 billion) cheap funding scheme for high-street lenders because it has served its purpose and is now undermining policy, a top economist, Simon Ward, has said. Dalian Wanda Group, China's largest commercial property company has walked away from its 470 million pound acquisition of Nine Elms Square (NYSE:SQ) as Beijing clamps down on the wave of cash flooding into overseas property. Guardian
- Airports have joined forces to press the government to urgently strike a post-Brexit deal on flights between the United Kingdom and the European Union, warning that the current uncertainty alone would be enough to see bookings drop by up to 41 percent. Public sector net borrowing last month, excluding the nationalised banks, was in surplus by 184 million pounds, the first surplus in that month since 2002, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said on Tuesday. City economists had expected the government to record a 1 billion pound deficit. Telegraph
- Vodafone Group Plc VOD.L is in talks with BT Group Plc's BT.L network subsidiary Openreach about a joint investment in new ultrafast fibre-optic broadband for British cities. Dominic Chappell, who bought BHS for 1 pound, is to be prosecuted by The Pensions Regulator for failing to provide information related to his purchase of the now defunct retailer. News
- Lidl has overtaken Waitrose to become Britain's seventh largest supermarket. The German-owned business grew sales by 18.9 percent in the 12 weeks to Aug. 13, taking its market share to 5.2 percent, according to industry data from Kantar Worldpanel. BHP Billiton Plc BLT.L , the world's biggest mining company by stock market value, has said it has decided to offload its U.S. shale oil operations and is "actively" looking at exit options. Independent
- The Cheshire-based firm Innospec Ltd is selling lead fuel additives, banned because of their "catastrophic" effects on human health, to Algeria, the last remaining country in the world where they are still legal. http://ind.pn/2g3Sl5u
($1 = 0.7800 pounds)