Wednesday newspaper round-up: Telecoms companies, zero-hours contracts, Boeing

The UK advertising watchdog has cracked down on marketing campaigns by telecoms companies including BT, EE, Virgin Media and O2 for misleading consumers about price rises added to their bills during their contracts. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has issued a batch of rulings against ads run by BT, its subsidiaries EE and Plusnet, as well as TalkTalk, O2 and Virgin Media broadband. – Guardian

Boeing said on Tuesday that it had withdrawn its pay offer to about 33,000 US factory workers and no further negotiations were planned with their union representatives as a strike nears its fourth week. Boeing and the union held their latest round of negotiations with federal mediators on Monday and Tuesday, but talks collapsed and the sides were left locked in acrimonious stalemate showing no signs of being resolved anytime soon, a person briefed on the talks said. – Guardian

Jobs with zero-hours contracts attract 25pc more applicants than equivalent permanent roles, research has found, as Angela Rayner plots a crackdown on the controversial working arrangements. Academics at the London School of Economics (LSE) found workers on zero-hours contracts had “a very strong preference” for their set-up and were “willing to forgo some salary for the flexibility their contract offers.” – Telegraph

More than two in five employers say they will cut their staff pension contributions where they can if the chancellor introduces national insurance on them in the budget this month. An informal poll of more than 600 employers found 42 per cent of those that pay more than the statutory minimum would reduce their contributions. – The Times

When Diversified Energy joined London’s junior market seven years ago, it positioned itself as a rare and different prospect from the other oil and gas minnows. The American producer pledged to hand back bumper cash returns to investors, backed by a steady stream of cash from the unloved gas wells of the energy majors. The assurance was met with scepticism by some analysts even then, but for a time the company defied its critics, helping to propel its market value from just under £70 million at its admission to Aim to £1.1 billion in 2022. – The Times