Cadbury's US owner paid no tax in the UK last year, retirement age is rising faster for women, and more top news

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Cadbury owner Mondelez UK paid no corporation tax in the UK last year, and in fact recorded a tax credit of ￡320,000. The company recorded a 740% jump in profit to more than ￡185m for the year to 31 December, with turnover rising to ￡1.66bn from ￡1.65bn. Despite this, Mondelez reported that it paid no tax last year in documents filed at Companies House. Meanwhile, auction site eBay's UK subsidiary has agreed to pay an extra ￡7m in tax following a review by HMRC. In 2016, eBay paid only ￡1.6m in corporation tax, despite declaring profits of ￡7.7m.

The number of women working past the age of 65 has nearly tripled, according to research, sparking concern about pension savings. Figures from the Department for Work and Pensions show that while both men and women are remaining in work for much longer than in previous decades, the change has been more rapid for women, who are now working until 64 on average versus 65 for men. Earlier this week, more than 1,000 women marched to parliament to protest the change in state pension age.

Patisserie Valerie is on the brink of collapse after admitting it needed “an immediate injection of capital” to survive, according to directors. The statement to investors comes less than 48 hours after the company revealed it had discovered an estimated ￡20 million-plus in potentially fraudulent accounting irregularities. The 92-year-old chain, which employs nearly 3,000 people across 200 outlets, halted share trading on Wednesday and announced it had suspended its chief financial officer after revealing a multimillion pound accounting black hole, and being hit with a winding-up petition by HM Revenue and Customs over an unpaid tax bill of ￡1.14m.

It’s light relief for fashion retailer Coast as rival Karen Millen has agreed to buy parts of the womenswear brand out of administration, rescuing 600 jobs. Staff were informed of the fashion chain’s collapse, which will see all 24 of Coasts standalone stores close, on Thursday evening – putting 300 jobs at risk. Meanwhile WH Smith has announced plans to close around 30 stores. CEO Stephen Clarke said the closures would include six WH Smith stores which had “not got a hope of making any money” and about 24 Cardmarket outlets over the next three years.

A decade-old agreement between British Airways and three other airlines on transatlantic flights is under investigation. The Atlantic Joint Business Agreement sees British Airways, American Airlines, Iberia and Finnair split revenue on all passenger routes between Europe and the US, and co-operate on pricing, capacity and schedules. BA represents more than 40% of the traffic from Heathrow to New York, according to analysis by Investec.   

Idea of the Day: If you want to start your own business, be ready to pitch your idea to anyone and everyone, says Knowlly founder Andrèz Coco.

“You never know when you’ll meet your next investor, customer, or partner.”

What's your take on today’s stories? Share your thoughts in the comments.

— Natalie MacDonald