PRESS DIGEST-SUNDAY BRITISH BUSINESS

LONDON, Feb 9 (Reuters) - British newspapers reported the following business stories on Sunday:

The Sunday Times

ASTRA BATTLES AFRICA'S BIGGEST KILLER WITH CHEAP DRUGS

AstraZeneca AZN.L is drawing up an ambitious plan to fight heart disease in Africa by flooding the continent with cheap beta-blocker drugs.

BARCLAYS TAKES 150 BLN STG AXE TO CASINO BANK

Barclays BARC.L is to slash the size of its investment bank by a fifth as part of its efforts to win back the trust of the Bank of England.

Thousands of jobs are at risk under the plan to sell off 150 billion pounds ($246 billion)of loans and tax securities and reduce annual costs by 1.7 billion pounds.

MIDLANDS TECH GURU SET FOR 350 MLN STG FROM CANDY CRUSH

A little-known Midlands entrepreneur stands to pocket about 350 million pounds from the hit mobile phone game Candy Crush Saga.

Mel Morris is expected to shoot into The Sunday Times Rich List after ploughing cash into the company that developed the game more than a decade ago.

Morris, a former Derby County FC director, has an 11.5 percent stake in the London-based business King, which is expected to float on America's Nasdaq exchange this year.

DUNHILL LIFELINE: SWISS OWNER INJECTS 28 MLN STG

The Swiss owner of Alfred Dunhill has been forced to inject 28 million pounds because of losses and a widening pension deficit.

Richemont, the luxury conglomerate that also controls Cartier watches and the Net-a-Porter website, shored up Dunhill's finances in 2012, according to accounts filed this weekend.

CITY VETERAN FINDS BACKERS TO RUN POWER LINE FROM ICELAND

The financier Edi Truell has lined up international investors to back a 1,000-mile cable under the Atlantic to import electricity from Iceland.

RSA INVESTORS BACK HESTER TO RAISE 500 MLN STG

Stephen Hester, the new boss of RSA Insurance RSA.L , has been given the green light by investors to launch a 500 million pound rescue rights issue.

GOLDMAN SAILS AWAY FROM PORTS

A stake in Britain's biggest ports operator could be up for grabs after two investors started exploring a sale of their 33 percent holding.

Goldman Sachs GS.N and Prudential are considering selling their stakes in Associated British Ports, which owns and runs 21 sites, including Southampton and Hull.

VODAFONE IN 6 BLN STG SPANISH CABLE SWOOP

Vodafone VOD.L has tabled a 7 billion euro takeover bid for Ono, a Spanish cable company, in its latest attempt to boost its flagging European business.

AUSSIES TO JOIN 10 BLN STG BANK FLOAT STAMPEDE

National Australia Bank NAB.AX is examining a possible 2 billion pound float of its British operations (Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks) as a wave of new high street lenders prepares to hit the stock market.

ECIGARETTE PIONEERS IN LINE FOR A PACKET

Two entrepreneurs behind a leading electronic cigarette brand could sell their business for up to 50 million pounds.

Art Devlin and Tony Jones, the founders of Cheshire-based Ten Motives, have hired adviser BDO after receiving takeover approaches, but it is unclear whether the duo will sell.

The Sunday Telegraph

EUROZONE BANKS FACE 42 BLN STG "CAPITAL BLACK HOLE"

Eurozone banks are facing a new capital black hole of as much as 50 billion euros ($68.1 billion), according to one of the UK's most respected financial analysts.

LEGAL FIGHT OVER GAME COLLAPSE

A collection of Britain's largest property companies and the computer game retailer Game will clash in the Court of Appeal this week over tens of millions of pounds of unpaid rent.

RBS COULD PUT BRAKE ON LIBERTY'S BATTLE FOR F1

The Royal Bank of Scotland RBS.L and Goldman Sachs GS.N could block plans for a takeover of Formula One by Liberty Media

LMCA.O .

PUNCH DEBT DEAL "ONLY BENEFITS SHAREHOLDERS"

Lenders to Punch Taverns, the embattled pubs group, have accused the company of "scare-mongering" in order to push through a 2.3 billion pound debt restructuring deal this week.

FLOAT BECKONS FOR TRADING SITE

Ratedpeople.com, the website that matches home-owners with local tradesmen, will join the stream of companies debuting on London's junior Aim market this year.

SIR STELIOS SET TO VOTE AGAINST CAROLYN MCCALL'S 6.4 MLN STG DEAL

EasyJet founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou is set to vote against the 6.4 million pound pay package awarded to the low-cost carrier's chief executive, Carolyn McCall.

"ANTI-GOOGLE BIAS" CLAIM HITS HARVARD PROFESSOR WHO CAUSED 40 PCT FALL IN BLINKX SHARE PRICE

The Harvard researcher whose criticisms of Blinkx BLNX.L prompted a collapse in the company's share price has previously faced accusations of producing biased research.

The Mail on Sunday

EXPOSED: BARCLAYS ACCOUNT DETAILS FOR SALE

Barclays is reeling from an unprecedented security breach after thousands of confidential customer files were stolen and sold on to rogue City traders. ($1 = 0.7343 euros) ($1 = 0.6100 British pounds)

(Reporting by Sarah Young; Editing by Louise Heavens)

((sarah.young@thomsonreuters.com)(+44 20 7542 1109)(Reuters Messaging: sarah.young.thomsonreuters@reuters.net))

Keywords: BRITAIN BUSINESS/