June 16 (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
* The chief executive of Firstgroup Plc FGP.L has had his 723,415 pounds ($922,571) annual bonus withheld because of the Croydon tram crash in which seven people died and 58 were injured. One of London's most distinctive modern buildings could be up for sale with a price tag of 1 billion pounds. Safra Group, the Brazilian banking group controlled by Joseph Safra, is said to be mulling options for a sale of the Gherkin, according to EG, a property magazine. Guardian
* The Bank of England has edged closer to raising interest rates as a deeper split emerged among its committee of policymakers, with three out of eight voting for an immediate rise to keep inflation in check. More than half of WM Morrison Supermarkets Plc's MRW.L shareholders have failed to back the supermarket's bosses' pay package in a massive protest vote at the company's annual shareholder meeting. Telegraph
* Greece avoided a summer default last night as it secured billions of euros in fresh financial aid even as creditors dashed Athens' hopes for a comprehensive debt relief deal. Administrators to Arrium Ltd ARI.AX said that a private equity consortium consisting of Newlake Alliance, JB Asset Management and Korean steel maker Posco 005490.KS had been named a preferred bidder for Arrium, beating out Sanjeev Gupta's Liberty Industries Group. News
* Trustees to the Co-Operative Bank Plc's 42RQ.L 10 billion pounds pension scheme are demanding a large sum from the struggling lender's bondholders to end the impasse over the bank's future, according to Sky News. The parent company of British Airways is estimating it will lose 80 million pounds after the catastrophic failure of the airline's IT systems last month. The forecast was revealed to the International Consolidated Airlines Group SA ICAG.L AGM by chief executive Willie Walsh, who apologised again for the global disruption but congratulated staff on the way they handled the glitch. Independent
* Airbnb has said that it expects to boost communities in Europe, which is its biggest market, by an estimated 340 billion euros of economic output by 2020 and that it will support an estimated 1 million jobs across the region by that year. http://ind.pn/2sg7WRk
* Spotify now has over 140 million users worldwide, a surge of around 40 million users over the past year alone, the online music platform announced on Thursday. http://ind.pn/2sgna9d
($1 = 0.7841 pounds)