The 10 biggest business stories on Tuesday March 1

Barclays profits fall as it plans to sell Africa business; US stock exchange group ICE 'considering counterbid' for LSE

Days after Deutsche Boerse announced plans to merge with London Stock Exchange, Intercontinental Exchange, a US exchange group, is said to be exploring a potential counterbid (PA)

1. Barclays has reported a drop in full-year profits, and announced plans to cut its dividend and sell down its stake in its Africa business. Underlying annual profits for 2015 fell 2 per cent to £5.4 billion. The bank said it would cut its dividend by more than half to 3p per share in 2016 and 2017.

2. Atlanta-based Intercontinental Exchange - the owner of the New York Stock Exchange - is considering making a counter bid for the London Stock Exchange, Bloomberg News reports. The move comes just a week after the British stock market operator confirmed it was in merger talks with Germany’s Deutsche Boerse.

3. Glencore's adjusted net income fell 69 per cent to $1.34 billion (£961 million) last year, down from $4.28 billion a year earlier. This was primarily due to weaker commodity prices, albeit partially offset by cost cutting and favourable exchange rate movements.

4. A court in southern China has jailed 24 people for fraudulently raising nearly 10 billion yuan ($1.5 billion) in one of the country's biggest financial scams, the official Xinhua news agency said. The group was convicted of illegally raising funds during the decade to 2012 from more than 230,000 investors, mainly senior citizens who put in their life savings, it said, citing the court.

5. Miner Rio Tinto has completed the sale of its 40 per cent interest in the Bengalla coal Joint Venture in Australia to New Hope Corp. for $616.7 million.

6. Greggs met forecasts with a 25 per cent rise in full-year profit, hiked its dividend by 30 per cent and predicted another year of growth. The baker said it would invest £100 million in its manufacturing and distribution operations over the next five years.

7. A self-driving car being tested by Google hit a bus earlier this month, the first time the company said its self-driving technology is partly to blame for an accident.

8. Volkswagen's boss has warned that a deal with US authorities over its emissions scandal could take longer and cost more than expected. Speaking at the Geneva Motor Show, Matthias Mueller told the BBC that VW was still in “constructive dialogue” with regulators and hoped the firm would be “judged fairly”.

9. Women have barely half the occupational pension savings of men, according to a report from the TUC.

10. A federal judge in the US has ruled that the government can't force Apple to help break an iPhone's passcode security in a drug case. The case echoes Apple ongoing battle with the FBI who wants the tech giant to unlock the phone of the San Bernardino shooter