A building boss forced out of his job over a toxic bonus scheme has handed his wife shares worth nearly £10m. Persimmon (PSN) chief executive Jeff Fairburn, who is leaving at the end of the year after a furious backlash over his pay, gave his wife Jayne 510,400 shares in the company. Those shares were worth £9.9m when the stock closed at 1946p last night. It followed a similar move earlier this year when Fairburn, 52, gave her shares worth £3.2m. Persimmon also revealed that Fairburn was handed another £43.2m worth of stock from the notorious bonus scheme on Thursday. After tax, the amount was reduced to £22.9m. It followed a payment earlier in the year worth £26m, or £13.9m after tax. Persimmon set up the bonus scheme which led to Fairburn’s payments in 2012, to reward directors if they hit targets linked to shareholder returns, but the board failed to impose limits on the maximum amount payable.
For the fourth consecutive weekend, supermarket chain Asda has instigated more fuel cuts by confirming it will reduce the price of petrol and diesel at its filling stations from Saturday. It’s the sixth reduction in pump prices since 26 October in response to falling wholesale unleaded and diesel costs. The supermarket’s latest price reduction at all 320 UK forecourts means drivers will pay no more than 114.7p per litre for unleaded and 125.7p for diesel. Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) and Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) have since announced they will also match the cuts.
Associated British Foods (ABF) – Primark sent a chill through the High Street after it warned of a challenging market in the run-up to Christmas. It said trading was tough in November, sparking major concerns among analysts who had seen it as a rare bright spot in the ailing British shopping scene. Richard Hyman, an independent retail analyst, said: ‘If Primark had a bad November, then God help everybody else. Primark is among the very best. However bad a November Primark had, the majority of other retailers in this market will have had a considerably worse one. ‘What will happen to them when we go into the new year is the real worry.’ The woes at Primark, which has collaborated with TV presenter Stacey Solomon on a range of clothing, raise the spectre of further job losses, store closures and failures across the industry if other companies face similar difficulties.
The boss of trading firm AJ Bell (AJB) became £62m richer in a matter of hours as shares surged on its market debut. Enthusiastic buyers piled in, driving shares up 33.6%, or 60p, to 220p. Andy Bell, who owns 25% of the company which was valued at £165.8m at its float price of 160p per share, saw his stake, worth £227.9m, rise £62.1m. The 52-year-old had already sold shares worth £18.1m. AJ Bell manages £38.6bn for 198,000 customers who buy and sell assets in companies and funds through its website. It is seen as a major rival to Hargreaves Lansdown, the biggest company in the industry with more than 1m clients, which has warned of an industry-wide slowdown amid fears of rocky markets.
Ted Baker founder Ray Kelvin has taken temporary leave of absence after allegations of harassment were made against him. The fashion chief executive, 63, has been accused of enforcing a ‘hugging’ culture at the company and asking young female workers to sit on his knee and let him massage their ears. Ted Baker (TED) was forced to launch an independent investigation following a petition from staff. In the petition, Mr Kelvin was also accused stroking people’s necks and making sexual innuendos. Mr Kelvin said in a statement that the accusations had ‘raised some very serious and upsetting issues’. ‘Ted Baker has been my life and soul for 30 years,’ he said. ‘I love this company and I care deeply for all my colleagues. It’s for that reason that I have decided to take a temporary leave of absence.’
British property developer Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) announced an upgrade of at least 5% in its yearly profit guidance following a slowdown in the London and South East housing market. In the six months to October 31, pre-tax profit dropped to £401million compared to £540million a year ago and revenue fell 0.7% at £1.65billion, the group said on Friday. The upgrade comes after Berkeley warned repeatedly of a profits fall next year, having previously forecast a drop of around 30 per cent despite selling 2,027 homes at an average price of £740,000. The group said it has enjoyed what has been a “resilient” start to the year, but warned about an uncertain short-term outlook as home-buyers put off house purchases ahead of Brexit.
Fantasy games maker Games Workshop Group (GAW) has reported a healthy 13% rise in sales following the success of its Warhammer brand in the first half of its financial year. In the six months up to December 2, the Nottingham-based games firm said operating profit nudged up to £41million while sales came in at around £124million. The company said profits are in line with its expectations for the year ending on June 2, although the board added that it is ‘aware that it is still early in the 2018/19 financial year’. The numbers were boosted by the continued popularity of tabletop game Warhammer, which Games Workshop said is in ‘great shape’. ‘We have built on the progress we made last year and the results are considerable given the backdrop of major projects, increasing factory capacity and enterprise resource planning system implementation,’ the firm said.
