The 10 biggest business stories on Friday February 5

The fall in oil prices is 'good' for the UK economy; News Corp revenue falls for fourth straight quarter

News Corp's, the company controlled by media mogul Rupert Murdoch, quarterly revenue fell for the fourth quarter in a row, hurt by a slump in its core news and information services business (Getty)

1. The fall in oil prices has been a “net good” for the economy, Bank of England deputy governor Ben Broadbent has said. He told BBC Radio 5live's Wake Up To Money that falling oil prices had helped to push up wages in real terms.

2. BNP Paribas posted a 52 per cent decline in fourth-quarter earnings, missing estimates after writing down goodwill at its Italian unit. But Bloomberg reports that France's biggest bank has announced a revamp of its investment bank to boost profit and free up capital.

3. News Corp's quarterly revenue fell for the fourth quarter in a row, hurt by a slump in its core news and information services business, which includes Dow Jones and the Wall Street Journal. The company, which is controlled by media mogul Rupert Murdoch, said total revenue fell 4.3 per cent to $2.16 billion in the second quarter ended December 31 from $2.26 billion a year earlier.

4. ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steelmaker, launched plans on Friday to raise $3 billion in fresh capital in a bid to reduce debt in the face of weak steel and mining sectors. The company has slumped to an annual loss of almost $8 billion (£5.4 billion), hit by plunging commodity prices.

5. Centrica, a gas and power utility, and its joint venture partner EIG Global Energy Partners have sold three UK wind farms for £423 million to a consortium that includes Britain's state-owned Green Investment Bank and US investment group BlackRock, the company said.

6. Just Eat, the UK’s largest online takeaway marketplace, is buying four businesses in Spain, Italy, Brazil and Mexico for €125 million.

7. Japan's Toyota has reported a 4.7 per cent year-on-year rise in net income for the three months to December, to ¥627.9 billion ($5.37 billion; £3.7 billion), due in part to stronger sales in the US.

8. Martin Shkreli, the pharmaceutical entrepreneur who was arrested in December 2015 on securities fraud charges, faced US legislators in a hearing on drug pricing on Thursday. Shkreli invoked his constitutional Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, declining to answer questions from lawmakers on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

9. Hasbro and Mattel, the two of the world’s biggest toy companies, have had talks about merging. Hasbro, the maker of My Little Pony approached Mattel, the company behind Barbie, about a potential transaction late last year, and the companies have held on-and-off-again, Bloomberg reports.

10. LinkedIn forecast first-quarter revenue and profit below Wall Street estimates as growth slows in its ads business and its hiring services face pressure outside North America, dragging its shares down 28 per cent after the bell.