Moneysupermarket.com spooks investors with Ofgem warning June 4, 2015 SHARES in Moneysupermarket.com tumbled yesterday after it said it may be the target of an Ofgem probe. In a statement released on Wednesday night, the firm informed investors it was being required by Ofgem to provide information in connection with an investigation: “into whether two or more companies providing a supporting service for the energy [...]
Think tank says Whitehall will face bigger cuts as George Osborne announces £3bn plan for savings and sell-offs June 4, 2015 The Institute for Fiscal Studies has warned that it will be “anything but easy” for the Conservatives to stick to their campaign promises. IFS deputy director Carl Emmerson said yesterday that with underlying pressures set to drive up spending, deeper-than-expected cuts amounting to more than 15 per cent for unprotected Whitehall departments will be needed [...]
Fall in Euro repo volumes wipe out US increases June 4, 2015 DIVING European repo trading volumes exactly offset a rise in business in US instruments, brokerage Icap said yesterday. Its data for May shows no growth in overall electronic broking volumes, down from six per cent growth in April. US Treasury volumes climbed 13 per cent on the year to an average daily volume of $184.2bn [...]
Sainsbury’s boss Mike Coupe misses out on payday perks June 4, 2015 Sainsbury’s chief executive Mike Coupe missed out on an annual bonus last year after the supermarket chain failed to meet sales and profit targets. The retailer’s annual report published yesterday revealed that Coupe’s annual pay package dropped to £1.5m in the year to March, down from £2m the previous year, when he was still commercial [...]
Marks & Spencer’s senior execs collect first bonus in two years June 4, 2015 MARKS & Spencer chief executive Marc Bolland has pocketed a bonus for the first time in two years after the high street retailer reported its first rise in annual profits in four years last month. The Dutchman, who joined M&S in 2010, received a £596,000 bonus on top of a basic salary of £975,000, taking [...]
Pets at Home is keeping pooches happy as it posts surge in profits June 4, 2015 Pets at Home yesterday posted a record set of full-year results and said it enjoyed a strong start to the year as owners splashed out more on grooming services and special nutrition products for their pets. Underlying core earnings for the year to 26 March rose 10 per cent to £121m, in line with expectations, [...]
Investors revolt over Morrisons’ ex-chief Dalton Philips’s pay June 4, 2015 Morrisons’ new management pledged to review its pay policies after the supermarket faced a shareholder revolt yesterday over the size of the bonus awarded to its ousted chief executive Dalton Philips. More than a third of shareholders (35.6 per cent) rejected the retailer’s remuneration report, according to proxy voting results revealed at its annual [...]
Sports Direct hires finance chief 18 months after Bob Mellors exit June 4, 2015 SPORTS Direct yesterday named an insider as interim chief financial officer after leaving the post vacant to the concern of shareholders for over 18 months. Matt Pearson, Sports Direct’s group financial controller, who joined the retailer from EY in 2007, has been promoted to the board with immediate effect. The retailer, controlled by Newcastle United [...]
House prices set to be bolstered by scant supply June 4, 2015 HOUSE prices dropped in May, one of the UK’s major mortgage providers said yesterday, but analysts expect a quick rebound. Houses lost 0.1 per cent of their value from April to May, according to figures published by Halifax. However, house prices are up 8.6 per cent compared to May 2014. Nationwide said earlier this week [...]
Savills says housing shortfall to reach 1m without more supply June 4, 2015 The housing shortfall in England is set to reach 1m homes within 10 years, according to new research from a leading estate agent. Savills said that England faces an annual housing shortfall of 100,000, a problem that the estate agent said can only be solved by the government boosting the supply of development land in high-demand locations [...]