Thursday newspaper round-up: Pfizer, Brexit, BBC, women on FTSE boards

Pfizer has held preliminary talks about taking over Allergan, in a deal that would create the world’s largest drugmaker with a market capitalisation of more than $300bn, according to two people familiar with the situation. Ian Read, Pfizer’s chief executive, recently contacted his counterpart at Allergan, Brent Saunders, the people said, although they cautioned the discussions were still at a very early stage. – Financial Times

A British exit from the EU would see it lose its chance to strike a preferential trade relationship with the US, and leave it facing the same tariffs and other restrictions as emerging economies such as Brazil, China and India, the top US trade official has warned. Advocates of a “Brexit” — over which the UK is due to vote by the end of 2017 — have argued that were the UK to leave the EU it could negotiate its own trade agreements with the US and other major trading partners. – Financial Times

Living standards in Britain have finally returned to pre-recession levels because of the rising incomes of the nation’s retirees, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has said. The latest snapshot of household incomes showed that, more than seven years after the financial crisis, the losses suffered in the most severe downturn of the modern age had finally been recouped. – Guardian

The BBC has been accused by ITV of breaking promises it would not chase ratings and failing to justify its £3.7bn in public funding by relying on jaded formats such as Bargain Hunt. Britain’s biggest commercial broadcaster has waded into the debate over the future of the licence with a fierce attack on BBC One’s alleged lack of distinctiveness and growing dependence on returning series. - Telegraph

British companies should appoint women to at least a third of all boardroom positions, a key report will urge today. Lord Davies will use his final Women On Boards review to call for a rise in the level of female representation at board level from the current 25% to 33% by the end of the decade. He will also expand his recommendations to include firms in the FTSE 350, rather than just Britain’s top 100 companies. - Telegraph

One of Britain’s biggest housing associations plans to cut the number of affordable homes it builds each year and double the amount of properties it will sell after George Osborne said he would cut social rents. Neil Hadden, the chief executive of Genesis Housing Association, which operates in London and the East of England, said it would cut the number of affordable homes it builds each year and those for social rent to about 100, while it will construct about 500 for shared ownership and 400 for market rent and sale. - The Times

Holidaymakers will no longer have to fear a sky-high phone bill on their return home after European regulators finally voted to abolish roaming charges for mobile phone users after years of fighting to end rip-off rates. A new law passed in Brussels will mean that, from 2017, mobile networks cannot charge a premium in Europe to upload a photo, send a text or make a phone call. - The Times