FTSE firms set to face investors over pay plans April 28, 2014 A CLUTCH of Britain’s biggest companies will this week face their investors, following bruising protest votes at Barclays, Pearson and AstraZeneca last week. FTSE 100 oil explorer Tullow is under the spotlight on Wednesday for its plans to change share awards for directors. Investor advisory group Pirc has said shareholders should oppose the changes, which [...]
City Moves for 28 April 2014 | Who’s switching jobs April 28, 2014 Octopus Investments The fund management company has appointed Alex Miller as chief operating officer. He was most recently at Lloyds Bank, where he was director of strategy and operational performance. Prior to that, Miller held senior roles at BT Group and Orange UK. HSBC The bank has announced the appointment of Ian Stuart as head [...]
Firms face pay revolt April 24, 2014 TWO MORE large British firms have been hit by showdowns with shareholders, as revolts over executive performance and pay gather pace. With the AGM season hotting up, pharmaceuticals giant AstraZeneca was last night rocked by figures that showed over half of its shareholder base failing to back the latest remuneration report. Of those who voted, [...]
Barclays: We had to hike pay to keep our best staff April 24, 2014 BARCLAYS had to hike bonuses to stop key US units disintegrating at the end of 2013, the bank’s chairman said at its annual general meeting yesterday. Sir David Walker defended the 10 per cent rise in the bonus pool last year while profits fell, in the face of angry opposition from some shareholders. The rise [...]
Big investors fighting back against execs April 24, 2014 STANDARD Life Investments and F&C Investments both voted against the 2013 remuneration report, objecting to bigger bonuses at Barclays. In a highly unusual move, Standard Life’s Alison Kennedy spoke out at the AGM, a strong signal of the institution’s anger at the bonuses. “We are unconvinced that the amount of the 2013 bonus pool was [...]
UK deficit comes down as tax revenues creep higher April 23, 2014 THE UK’S public deficit in 2013-14 dropped further than expected at the start of the fiscal year, according to yesterday’s official figures, but the improvement is being driven by increased tax revenues. The public sector’s net borrowing in the last financial year was £107.7bn, down £7.5bn from the previous year, and just over £12bn lower [...]
Barclays braced for battle as investors protest pay report April 23, 2014 A LARGE minority of shareholders are set to vote against Barclays’ remuneration report at today’s AGM – but a resounding majority are expected to back its future pay plans. Just 65 per cent of investors are set to back the report in the non-binding vote. However, more than 90 per cent are expected to back its future [...]
Inside Track: Behind the scenes of the Pfizer and Astrazeneca talks April 23, 2014 IT WAS ever thus: investment bankers kick off the year talking up a economic environment ripe for throwing up industry-defining mergers and acquisitions. By Easter, they’re conjuring up myriad reasons why said deluge of deals has failed to materialise. To date, 2014 has done little to disabuse that idea. There are exceptions, of course, one [...]
Drab US factory and housing numbers hit recovery hopes April 23, 2014 LACKLUSTRE economic figures weighed on investor sentiment across the pond yesterday, with manufacturing and housing data coming out worse than expected. The US factory sector kept growing this month, according to Markit’s initial flash estimate. Yet the purchasing managers’ index (PMI) score of 55.4, down from 55.5 in March, disappointed economists who had expected a [...]
Best of the Brokers for 24 April 2014 April 23, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com PREMIER FOODS Jefferies has restarted coverage on the food maker with a “buy” rating and 90p target. The broker thinks fears of a grocery price war are overdone and believes the company can weather the pressure to deliver on its 2014 forecasts. THOMAS [...]