C&W investors urged to block directors’ pay July 7, 2009 CABLE & Wireless (C&W) is under pressure again over pay deals offered to directors, after advisory firm Pirc urged investors to oppose plans to extend a controversial incentive plan. The plan, which also came under fire from a top 10 shareholder, has led to a “red top” alert from the Association of British Insurers (ABI), its [...]
Rose believes activists will fail to deliver July 5, 2009 MARKS & SPENCER believes shareholder activists will not get the required 75 per cent vote in favour of a resolution at its AGM on Wednesday calling on the retailer to split the executive chairman role held by Sir Stuart Rose. The Local Authority Pension Fund Forum (LAPFF), has filed a resolution for Wednesday’s shareholder meeting [...]
Home Retail Group fights off an investor rebellion over exec pay July 2, 2009 HOME Retail Group, the owner of Argos and Homebase, yesterday saw off an investor rebellion over proposed changes to pay plans at its annual shareholders meeting. A resolution to approve a new executive bonus scheme, which will see some managers paid up to 150 per cent of their salaries in cash, was passed. However, 35.7 [...]
RBS chief Hester alters pay deal in bid to placate critics July 1, 2009 ROYAL BANK of Scotland chief executive Stephen Hester yesterday pledged to defer cashing incentive shares worth up to £3.4m for an extra two years in an attempt to defuse outrage over his controversial pay package. Hester’s overall package is potentially worth £9.7m, RBS said last week, drawing fire from politicians and trade unions who said [...]
How London City Airport’s veteran boss is keeping his sights set high June 28, 2009 Whenever you meet Richard Gooding, London City Airport’s relaxed-looking chief executive, you can’t help feeling he has seen it all before – and after clocking up 42 years in the airline business, he probably has. Aged just 18, Gooding left rural Suffolk to work as an apprentice for British European Airways – which later became [...]
Rose braces himself for more dissent June 24, 2009 MARKS & SPENCER yesterday faced fresh pressure over Sir Stuart Rose’s dual role as chairman and chief executive as corporate governance body Pirc joined the growing calls for an independent chairman. Pirc said: “Combining the two roles in one person represents a dangerous concentration of power that is potentially detrimental to board balance, effective debate, [...]
THE LONDON REPORT June 23, 2009 The FTSE 100 closed down 0.1 per cent yesterday, falling just 4.03 points to 4,230.02 in a choppy session, with thin volumes exacerbating movements, after losing 2.6 per cent on Monday. The index has gained more than 22 per cent since hitting a six-year low in March, but is still down 4.6 per cent on [...]
ABI: EU plans could see UK pensions cut June 22, 2009 UK WORKERS could see their pensions cut by 20 per cent under new European Union (EU) plans to tighten pension and investment rules, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) warned yesterday. Peter Vipond, director of financial regulation at the Association of British Insurers (ABI), said he has been in talks with EU regulators over the [...]
Rose waives 1.1m share award payout June 22, 2009 SIR Stuart Rose, executive chairman of Marks & Spencer, yesterday waived his entitlement to more than £1m in shares in a bid to appease disgruntled shareholders. Under the incentive share plan, M&S’s remuneration committee had awarded Rose 1,184,900 shares. But after a shareholder backlash led by the Association of British Insurers (ABI), Rose said he [...]
Davies says lending not hurting UK June 17, 2009 TRADE minister Mervyn Davies has poured cold water on Bank of England deputy governor Paul Tucker’s suggestion that UK banks are hampering economic recovery. Speaking at the Paris air show, the former chairman of Standard Chartered admitted that encouraging banks to lend through the economic downturn was “challenging”. But when asked whether the lack of [...]