July 22 (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 Royal Navy is now too small to fulfil its global role, a defence minister admitted last night as it emerged that Iran had ignored warnings from a British warship against seizing a UK-flagged tanker in the Gulf. British ministers are considering measures that would require all airlines to introduce carbon offsetting payments at the point of ticket sale. Telegraph
- Centrica Plc CNA.L is preparing to pare back its dividend for the second time in four years as the British Gas owner plots the sale of some oil and gas interests in a bid to revive its finances. Liberty Global Plc LBTYA.O , the owner of Virgin Media, is understood to be working on plans with advisers from the boutique investment bank LionTree. Liberty Global Chairman John Malone is saddling up for a new venture that could invest billions in full-fibre broadband infrastructure in Britain. News
- Sky News has learnt that Metro Bank Plc MTRO.L is applying finishing touches to a 500 million pounds ($625.35 million) deal to offload a mortgage portfolio back to a major U.S. hedge fund. Independent
- Andrew Percy, one of UK trade minister Liam Fox's trade envoys has quit in protest that the government's no-deal Brexit policy threatens the demise of an existing trade deal with Canada worth 800 million pounds. ($1 = 0.7996 pounds)