Feb 5 - 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
Barclays Plc BARC.L has abandoned its protracted fight with the Serious Fraud Office over sensitive documents about its 2008 Middle East fundraising and handed them over for scrutiny. (http://thetim.es/1X6SxeR)
South32 Ltd S32.AX , which was spun out of BHP Billiton BLT.L , is cutting more than 600 jobs and preparing for a $1.7 billion write-down. (http://thetim.es/1X6T7JD)
The Guardian
Analysts at Goldman Sachs (N:GS) are warning that sterling could fall by up to 20 percent if Britain votes to leave the European Union. The U.S. investment bank believes Britain will remain in the EU, but its macro markets strategy team has looked at what would happen to the pound if the vote goes the other way. Plc AZN.L has warned that revenues and profits will fall this year as the drugmaker loses patent protection on its cholesterol pill Crestor in the United States. Telegraph
Vodafone Plc VOD.L has hit out at CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd's 0001.HK promise to freeze mobile phone bills for millions of customers if Brussels approves the proposed merger between Three and O2. fares at Ryanair Holdings Plc RYA.I in the wake of the Paris atrocities sent passenger numbers at the Irish budget airline soaring by a quarter last month. News
The Bank of England has cut its forecasts for UK economic growth to the weakest level in three years and said that it stands ready to cut interest rates if there is another slump. cabinet minister John Whittingdale has broken his silence on David Cameron's EU renegotiation and signalled he stands ready to campaign for Britain to leave the European Union. (9 Independent
Top City law firms are billing up to 1,100 pounds ($1,603.36) an hour - the highest rates ever recorded - producing "astronomical" and "unjustifiable" fees that are restricting access to justice, according to the author of a report for the Centre for Policy Studies think-tank. (http://ind.pn/1X6Vxb9)
($1 = 0.6861 pounds)