Co-op is told it must reform or it will fail again April 30, 2014 A SWEEPING investigation into the Co-op Group and Co-op Bank yesterday found years of bad decision making and poor leadership led to the enormous losses at the group and the near-failure of the bank last year. The report, by Sir Christopher Kelly, found directors and executives failed to take risk management seriously, and that only serious reforms to [...]
Serco seeks emergency cash as finance chief makes exit April 30, 2014 SERVICES giant Serco announced its intention to raise around £170m yesterday, as Andrew Jenner bows out as the group’s chief financial officer (CFO). The group will place nearly 50m more shares to raise the cash, just shy of 10 per of the firm’s existing share capital. Jenner has been the group’s CFO for 12 years, and [...]
Reckitt steps down from Merck sale discussions after two days April 30, 2014 RECKITT Benckiser announced yesterday that it has given up on talks with pharmaceutical giant Merck about purchasing the firm’s $14bn (£11.5bn) consumer healthcare arm. Reckitt was rumoured to be the most likely buyer earlier this month, but did not admit until a statement on Monday that the two groups were in active discussions over the [...]
Saga puts retail investor at heart of London float April 30, 2014 SAGA, the over-50s holidays-to-insurance provider, yesterday unveiled plans for the biggest flotation in London this year, as a stampede of silver haired savers registered to snap up shares in the listing. The business, which was founded by east end hotelier Sidney De Haan in 1950, said it would raise £550m in an initial public offering [...]
Morrisons steps up battle with fresh price cuts April 30, 2014 MORRISONS has launched a fresh assault in the supermarket price war after unveiling price cuts on 1,200 products as part of its £1bn programme aimed at winning back customers defecting to cheaper rivals. Britain’s fourth largest supermarket said that from today it will slash the price of branded products such as Jammie Dodgers and Morrisons [...]
Home Retail Group to open new smaller Argos stores in London April 30, 2014 HOME Retail Group announced yesterday it will trial two new formats of its Argos stores as well as extend its new digital concept stores and ramp up its home delivery offer as the retailer continued to turn itself around. The group, which reported a 27 per cent rise in full-year profit yesterday, said it will [...]
WPP’s Sorrell tops FTSE pay April 30, 2014 SIR MARTIN Sorrell, chief executive of advertising giant WPP, saw his remuneration package total nearly £30m last year. The package awarded, the highest of any chief executive in the FTSE 100, soared 70 per cent from the £17.6m he received in 2012 to £29.8m in 2013. Sorrell’s basic pay actually fell 11 per cent to [...]
Bank to decide on transcripts April 30, 2014 THE BANK of England is now officially reviewing whether to publish a fuller record of its policy meetings. Yesterday, the Bank announced that Kevin Warsh, who was formerly on the Federal Reserve’s board, will conduct a review of the bank’s practices. Currently, the Bank releases minutes of the meetings, which are not verbatim records. It [...]
Fat face to confirm float April 30, 2014 RETAILER Fat Face will this morning announce its intention to float on the London stock market, the latest retailer to join the stampede to raise funds from an IPO. Private equity owner Bridgepoint is set to sell some of its stake.
Glaxo boss not tempted to bid for AstraZeneca April 30, 2014 SHARES in British pharmaceuticals giant Glaxosmithkline slid more than two per cent yesterday after the firm revealed a 10 per cent drop in first-quarter sales, and its chief executive played down the chance of a so-called white knight bid for AstraZeneca. Sir Andrew Witty said he still prefers targeted transactions rather than mega-mergers. UK rival [...]