WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING
FINANCIAL TIMES
NISSAN’S GHOSN TOPS JAPAN PAY LEAGUE
Nissan’s Carlos Ghosn has taken top spot on a list of Japan’s best-paid executives after the carmaker revealed it paid its Brazil-born chief executive Y890m ($9.9m) last year. Nissan and other quoted Japanese companies are being forced to report the compensation of individual executives for the first time under rules introduced by the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The disclosures have highlighted the gulf between Japanese managers – whose compensation is held down by the fact that they rarely switch employers – and foreigners brought in to run local groups.
EASYJET ACCUSES ITS FOUNDER OF FISHING
Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, who founded EasyJet, is “fishing around for a test” to determine whether some activities are non-core, lawyers representing EasyJet told the High Court on the final day of a trial between the founder and the airline. Sir Stelios is suing EasyJet over the terms of a brand licence agreement that restricts the amount it can make from “ancillary” services to 25 per cent of total income. He claims EasyJet is overstepping that agreement.
GAP TRIES CHINA FOR SIZE WITH FOUR NEW STORES
Gap, the US clothing retailer, is to open four stores and an e-commerce operation in China late this year in its most significant overseas expansion in more than a decade. The retailer said it would open two stores in Beijing, including one on the capital’s main shopping street, and two in Shanghai. They will sell clothing from its adult, kids and baby Gap ranges.
THE TIMES
LUCOZADE FINDS THE ENERGY TO TAKE ON POWERFUL AMERICAN RIVALS
GlaxoSmithKline is taking on the big guns of the soft drinks industry by launching Lucozade in the United States, challenging the might of PepsiCo’s Gatorade and Coca-Cola’s Powerade sports drinks.
BELARUS GAS SUPPLIES CUT 60 PER CENT BY RUSSIA
Russia tightened the screw on Belarus today by cutting gas supplies by 60 per cent in a payment dispute that threatens to affect customers in the European Union. The state energy giant Gazprom said that it had cut gas flows to Belarus for a third successive day after accusing the former Soviet republic of doing nothing to clear a $192m debt. Alexei Miller, the chief executive, has threatened to reduce supplies by 85 per cent unless Belarus pays by Friday.
The Daily Telegraph
GOLDMAN SACHS CHIEF LLOYD BLANKFEIN ADVISED TO GO ON OPRAH
Lloyd Blankfein, chief executive of Goldman Sachs, could have been following in the footsteps of Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, in using an appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show to attempt to revitalise his and the bank’s tarnished image. The idea – which appears to have been just that – has been mooted in the bank’s upper echelons of power.
JOHN VARLEY: BARCLAYS’ LEHMAN PURCHASE RISKIEST WEEK OF MY LIFE
John Varley described the seven days which led up to Barclays buying Lehman Brothers’ US brokerage as “the riskiest week of my life” as he defended the British bank against charges it made a “secret” $11.2bn (£7.55bn) “windfall” on the purchase. Varley, chief executive of Barclays, told a US court the deal was risky.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
EX-UNILEVER EXECUTIVE JOINS BUYOUT FIRM CD&R
Vindi Banga, the former Unilever top executive who announced his resignation from the consumer-goods giant in March, has been hired as operating partner in the London office of private-equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice.
Banga, who worked at Unilever for 33 years, most recently as president for global foods, home and personal care, resigned about a year after former Nestlé and Procter & Gamble executive Paul Polman took over as Unilever’s CEO.
FIAT TO RESTART UNION TALKS
Fiat will resume talks with unions after failing to convince enough workers to accept its demands on working conditions in exchange for investing €700m (£576m) in their plant in southern Italy.