1. HSBC is about to introduce voice recognition and touch security services in the UK. The bank is implementing “the largest planned rollout of voice biometric security technology in the UK”. The service is expected to be available to around 15 million UK customers, the BBC reports.
2. Mario Monti, the former Italian Prime Minister, criticised the decision to hold a referendum on UK’s membership in the EU. He said: “From a purely economic point of a view there was no real need for the UK to re-negotiate”. The “UK would be more akin to a big island than a real world-class economic power if it left the EU”, he told in an interview with BBC 5live.
3. Facebook and Twitter rallied behind Apple in its fight against the FBI, with both companies pledging that they “stand with Apple” and will “aggressively fight” attempts to weaken encryption.
4. Asda may be the biggest casualty from the ongoing supermarket price wars to date after reporting a significant dip in sales for the sixth successive quarter. A 5.8 per cent decline in the three months to the end of December rounded off a dreadful year for the UK’s second-biggest supermarket.
5. Allianz, German insurer, unveiled an operating profit target of up to €11.billion ($12.2 billion) for 2016 that was in line with analysts' expectations, citing an “increasingly challenging” business environment.
6. Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, announced an 8 per cent year-on-year decline in fourth-quarter net income to $4.6 billion, due to low sales prices and online competition.
7. Amazon is quietly inviting drivers for its new “on-demand” delivery service to handle its standard packages, as the online retailer looks to speed up delivery times and tamp down its growing multi-billion dollar logistics bill. The move, which has not been announced publicly, is the latest sign that the world's biggest e-commerce company wants to control more of its own deliveries, according to Reuters.
8. Skyscanner, the travel website that allows people to search for flights and hotels, announced on Friday that it grew its revenues to £120 million in 2015 — up 28 per cent on the previous year.
9. Santos, Australia’s struggling oil and gas giant has reported a loss of A$ 2.7 billion ($1.9 billion; £1.3 billion) for the 12 months to December. The figure was 189 per cent higher than last year's annual loss of A$935m.
10. Gucci, the Italian luxury brand reported a forecast-beating rebound in sales in the fourth quarter under its new designer and chief executive, helped by solid growth in Western Europe and Japan
