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 [...]
Charlie Bracken: The man behind Liberty Global’s deal spree now has his eyes on Europe June 30, 2014 Finance boss Charlie Bracken tells Oliver Smith why content is king With a cable network connecting over 24m households across Europe, a figure that will jump to 28m when its €10bn (£8bn) takeover of Netherlands cable operator Ziggo closes later this year, finance chief Charlie Bracken believes that content is fast becoming the new [...]
House of Fraser sales lifted by demand for own label brands June 25, 2014 DEPARTMENT store chain House of Fraser saw same store sales rise two per cent in the first three months of the year, as customers snapped up its own-label brands. House labels, including Linea and Kenneth Cole, jumped eight per cent in the 13 weeks to 26 April while branded and concessions sales both rose by [...]
London Report: FTSE drops on worrying data on the economy June 24, 2014 BRITAIN’S top share index slipped slightly yesterday, led lower by mining stocks, as signs of economic weakness in Europe and growing tension in Iraq made investors cautious. The FTSE 100 closed down 0.2 per cent, or 13.49 points, at 6,787.06 points following gains in early trade. The UK mining index, down 0.8 per cent, was [...]