Bloomberg Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc pays its female staff on average 37 percent less than men at the bank, joining Lloyds Banking Group Plc and Standard Life Aberdeen Plc in revealing an acute gender imbalance between employees under new disclosure requirements. Women at RBS receive average bonuses that are 64 percent lower than male employees, the bank said …

Bloomberg While Barclays Plc’s torrid 2017 ended on a mixed note, Jes Staley sees better things to come. Income from dealing stocks, bonds and currencies fell 18 percent, according to the bank’s fourth-quarter earnings report. That beat both the 26 percent decline estimated by UBS Group AG and the average 25 percent drop in markets revenue posted by Wall Street …

NEW DELHI / Reuters Saudi Arabia hopes OPEC and its allies will be able to relax production curbs next year and create a permanent framework to stabilise oil markets after the current supply cut deal ends this year, its oil minister said on Saturday. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is reducing output by about 1.2 million barrels per …

Bloomberg Apple Inc., seeking to bolster its wearables business, is working on upgrades to its wireless AirPods headphones, according to people familiar with the matter. Like with its mobile devices—the iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch—Apple intends to frequently update the AirPods with new hardware features. The Cupertino, California-based technology giant is working on a new version for release as soon …

Bloomberg Vision Esports, an investment fund focussed exclusively on professional video gaming, has finished a $38 million funding round led by Evolution Media, the firm founded by Creative Artists Agency and TPG Capital. It’s one of the bigger efforts to gather money in the fast-growing esports industry. Other new Vision Esports investors include baseball’s St. Louis Cardinals, Giants wide receiver …

Bloomberg Gestamp Automocion SA will be largely insulated from the car industry’s high investment costs to develop electric autos after taking steps years ago to produce the large, lightweight metal parts the vehicles need, Chairman Francisco Riberas said. Gestamp’s leadership in hot-stamping technology already enables it to supply lower-weight steel body structures and chassis that help automakers grapple with ways …

Bloomberg The world’s largest car maker and biggest ride-hailing company plan to team up on autonomous driving as technological changes sweep through the transportation industry. Dara Khosrowshahi, chief executive officer of Uber Technologies Inc., posted a photo on Twitter of him and Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda and Executive Vice President Shigeki Tomoyama at the automaker’s headquarters. The Uber …

MUMBAI / Reuters India state refiners expect their profit margins to hold their strength this year as demand growth accelerates for fuel products amid a record $93 billion spent on infrastructure and stable crude oil prices, company executives and analysts said. India’s sales of cars and especially motorbikes are forecast to rise rapidly, even as the development of a Delhi-Mumbai …

Bloomberg Two of the world’s biggest energy producers have abandoned the sale of some of Australia’s oldest oil fields after running a 20-month sales process. Exxon Mobil Corp. and BHP Billiton Ltd. will retain ownership and operation of fields, licenses and associated infrastructure held in the Gippsland Basin Joint Venture after concluding a sale process, Exxon’s Esso Australia unit said …

Bloomberg The rollercoaster that drags liquefied natural gas prices higher as demand jumps in the northern hemisphere winter is going into overdrive. After a winter in which an unexpected boost in demand from China pushed prices to three-year highs, spot LNG in northeast Asia has plummeted about 30 percent from its mid-January peak. Summer plunges and winter spikes are the …