Shell bows to revolt over pay and bonuses February 16, 2010 Shell’s shareholders scored a victory yesterday after last year’s revolt on remuneration forced the oil titan to freeze pay and curb bonuses. In a letter to shareholders, Hans Wijers, new head of the group’s remuneration committee, said salaries have been frozen from July 2009 to January 2011 in an effort to increase the “alignment between [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS February 16, 2010 Amati Global Investors The newly-formed investment manager, which manages the Noble Aim VCT and CF Noble UK Smaller Companies funds, has appointed Eddie Edmonstone as a director. Edmonstone is something of a veteran in the City, having previously been director of corporate broking at stockbroking group FinnCap. He was also formerly a founder of Peel [...]
Exxon’s gas focus helps it to bolster 2009 oil reserves February 16, 2010 Exxon Mobil added 2bn barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) to its proved reserves in 2009, or 133 per cent of its production for that year, the largest US oil firm said yesterday. Exxon used long-term pricing to estimate its reserves instead of using the 12-month averages required under rules from the US Securities and Exchange [...]
Domino’s delivers recession-beating rise in pizza sales February 16, 2010 DOMINO’S yesterday delivered a 27.8 per cent jump in pre-tax profit as it vowed to continue its aggressive expansion. It made £29.9m on sales of £406.9m. The pizza seller reported an 8.4 per cent increase in like-for-like sales. Diluted earnings per share were 13.49p, up 26 per cent. The firm says it benefited from the [...]
Deutsche plan defers bigger slice of bonus February 16, 2010 Deutsche Bank has expanded a sliding pay scale forcing senior bankers to defer a larger proportion of their bonuses. It is understood that at least a quarter of all 2009 bonuses above €100,000 (£87,194) will be deferred. The deferral rate goes up as bonuses rise, forcing managing directors to have 50 to 70 per cent [...]
Branson backs Tory plans to slash spending faster February 16, 2010 SIR RICHARD Branson yesterday said the next government should start cutting the deficit immediately after the election, in comments that appeared to back Tory policy. “The next government, whatever party that is, must set out a plan to reduce the bulk of the deficit over a parliament by cutting wasteful spending and must not put [...]
Jefferies sets up event-driven trading desk February 16, 2010 JEFFERIES, the investment banking firm, has appointed Chris Blackburn as head of its new European event driven trading desk. The five-man London team, will work in tandem with a six-strong New York desk, offering sales, trading and analysis of European stocks involved in M&A, financial distress and other so-called “special situations”. The desk has been [...]
FSA hands out record fine to oil firm chief February 16, 2010 THREE Turkish oil executives have been slapped with a £1.16m fine by the FSA for insider trading in the shares of FTSE 250-listed Heritage Oil. The chief executive, chief commercial officer and exploration manager of Genel Enerji bought Heritage shares after receiving confidential information relating to their joint venture for the exploration of the Miran [...]
CITY VIEWS: IS THE FSA WINNING THE WAR ON INSIDER TRADING IN THE CITY? February 16, 2010 KIM WILLIAMS | AFFILIATE WINDOW “I don’t think enough is being done about insider trading. You can see from the big cases recently that it is going on all the time. There seems to be a lack of political will as it’s not a crime that the average person on the street sees every day.” [...]
Sports minister joins debate over football club debt levels February 16, 2010 THE government is to press ahead with calls for tougher financial controls for football clubs, despite widespread criticism from within the industry. Sports minister Gerry Sutcliffe yesterday weighed into the debate, calling for an overhaul of the way teams’ finances are regulated. The move follows increasing concern about the long-term viability of debt-laden clubs in [...]