Bottom Line: How to lose friends and alienate people July 2, 2014 MIKE Ashley looked thoroughly bored at yesterday’s Sports Direct meeting, seemingly fed up with all the commotion surrounding its latest attempt to pay him a hefty bonus. One might have thought he’d be used to it. An extremely divisive figure, often ridiculed and reviled in the football world, the bolshie and controversial way by which [...]
Simon Fraser is fighting for hearts and minds at the Investor Forum July 2, 2014 Does someone at the new body set up to promote investor long-termism have a bizarre sense of humour? That was one interpretation of yesterday’s confirmation that Simon Fraser, former global chief investment officer of Fidelity, would be its first chairman. After all, Fraser was until recently a board member at the bete [...]
Radcliffe aims to finish on her terms July 2, 2014 Marathon icon tells Frank Dalleres why a sparkling career must end in London IT WAS meant to be a glorious homecoming, the crowning achievement of one of Britain’s greatest ever athletes at the scene of her breakthrough triumph. Instead the London 2012 Olympic Games became a nightmare for Paula Radcliffe, as injury not only denied [...]
Mike Ashley finally lands bonus after shareholder backlash July 2, 2014 Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley has been awarded a bonus after 60 per cent of shareholders approved plans to let Mr Ashley share in a bonus scheme of up to £200m between the retailer's employees and management. However, 40 per cent of shareholders opposed the move, which was the company's third attempt in two years [...]
Directors join row over Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct bonus July 1, 2014 British directors yesterday slammed Sports Direct’s plans to hand founder Mike Ashley a multimillion-pound share bonus, which this morning is facing a crunch shareholder vote. The Institute of Directors’ rare attack on Sports Direct criticised “weak governance” from the company’s board over the pay plans. But the retailer last night remained confident of passing the [...]
World Cup in brief July 1, 2014 Barca happy with humble Suarez BARCELONA sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta believes disgraced Uruguay striker Luis Suarez showed his softer side by apologising to Giorgio Chiellini, seemingly smoothing the way for a possible summer switch from Liverpool to Camp Nou. He said: “Suarez has shown he is humble enough to admit an error, which is very [...]
Pensions body opposes Sports Direct pay plan June 30, 2014 SPORTS Direct faced further calls yesterday to withdraw its proposed bonus scheme to reward its founder Mike Ashley, ahead of a planned shareholder meeting tomorrow. Local Authority Pension Fund Forum (LAPFF) said it had urged its members to vote against the 2015 bonus share scheme, joining similar calls from the Association of British Insurers and [...]
London Report: Turbulence for easyJet as FTSE loses altitude June 30, 2014 EASYJET proved to be a drag on the FTSE 100 yesterday as the low-cost airline felt the effect of a broker downgrade. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index ended down by 0.2 per cent, or 13.83 points, at 6,743.94 points – down more than two per cent from its 2014 peak of 6,894.88 in May, which [...]
Sports Direct confirms no deal for Office June 30, 2014 Sports Direct has confirmed that it is not considering an acquisition of footwear retailer Office. The FTSE 100 company said recent speculation over a possible deal was "unhelpful to the customers, staff, suppliers and other stakeholders of both companies". The board of the UK sports retailer has had its fair share of concerns over past [...]
Sports Direct fears third bonus defeat June 30, 2014 SPORTS Direct’s third attempt to reward its billionaire founder Mike Ashley looks set to fail this week after three major shareholder bodies publicly urged investors to vote against the latest bonus scheme. The sports retail giant could decide to call off Wednesday’s shareholder meeting if the proxy votes – due in today – indicate that [...]