PRESS DIGEST-British Business - Feb. 1

Feb 1 (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

- Britain's antitrust regulator is investigating whether Vifor Pharma disparaged its rival Pharmacosmos's blockbuster iron-deficiency treatment to promote its own competing drug, Ferinject.

The Guardian

- Mike Lynch, the technology tycoon once lauded as the UK's answer to Bill Gates and now facing criminal fraud charges in the US, is suing the Serious Fraud Office. - TV Narendran, Tata Steel's global chief executive, told MPs on Wednesday that the decision to close two blast furnaces at the south Wales site was driven by steep losses at the steelworks, which he said came to 160 million pounds($202.83 million) in the last quarter.

The Telegraph

- Alistair Barclay, a senior member of the Barclay family, faces a petition from Investec to declare him personally bankrupt,in the latest legal drama for the owners of The Telegraph.

- Britain's oil and gas regulator, the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA), on Wednesday awarded 24 new hydrocarbon exploration licences to 17 companies, including BP, Shell , Equinor and TotalEnergies.

Sky News

- NatWest Group is moving towards the appointment of a permanent successor to Dame Alison Rose after hiring headhunters to assist its new chairman with the search.

($1 = 0.7888 pounds) (Compiled by Bengaluru newsroom)