Unilever slammed over fat cat pay just days after being forced to ditch plan to axe UK base. Unilever (ULVR) faces a backlash over fat cat pay just days after it was forced to abandon plans to axe its British headquarters. The consumer goods group, whose brands include Marmite, Domestos and PG Tips, handed £10million to chief executive Paul Polman last year. MPs on the business select committee have summoned executives to Parliament to explain its pay policy amid mounting concerns over boardroom excess.
British car giants stuck in slow lane: Aston Martin shares slump following botched float as Jaguar sales tumble. Storm clouds are gathering over two of Britain’s leading car makers. In a worrying sign for the motor industry, Jaguar Land Rover said it will close its plant in Solihull for two weeks this month because of a slump in demand in China. And shares in Aston Martin Holdings (AML) fell again, taking losses since it listed on the stock market last week to 15.8%. The rout has wiped £684million off the value of the luxury car maker.
Grocery mastermind behind Tesco overhaul jumps ship to join Marks & Spencer Group (MKS). George Wright – a key player in the battle to restore Tesco (TSCO) health after a £250million accounting scandal four years ago – will join M&S Food as commercial director responsible for trading and supply chain. It is part of a push to modernise M&S as the store fights to survive in a changing High Street.
Former Tesco managers accused of fraud which saw profits inflated by a quarter of a billion pounds. Two former Tesco (TSCO) senior managers have gone on trial accused over an alleged fraud that saw profits overstated by a quarter of a billion pounds. Chris Bush, ex-UK managing director, and John Scouler, the then-UK food commercial director, were aware that income was being wrongly included in the supermarket chain’s financial records in 2014 to meet targets and make Tesco look financially healthier than it was, Southwark Crown Court heard.
French Connection shares soar 45% after the embattled fashion firm admits it is up for sale… after more than six years of losses. In less than half an hour after markets opened, its downtrodden shares had clambered from 42.9p to more than 62p – valuing the firm at nearly £60million. French Connection Group (FCCN), which was founded in 1972 by its boss and chairman Stephen Marks, gained notoriety for its FCUK branding in the 90s but has since fallen out of favour.
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) is in talks to merge its £13billion wealth management arm in a joint venture with investment giant Schroders (SDR). Both firms have confirmed they are in ‘ongoing talks’, and it is understood that an announcement could come as soon as later this month.
Packaging company RPC Group (RPC) went into reverse as investors began to lose faith that its private equity suitors would make a bid. Major buyout houses Apollo and Bain Capital were likely to either table an offer or throw in the towel after the market close. But just before the 5pm deadline struck, RPC said it had asked for the Panel on Takeovers and Mergers to extend the cut-off point. In a statement to the market it said discussions ‘remain ongoing’ with Apollo and Bain. The two potential bidders have until November 5 to confirm whether or not they will make a formal offer.
Amino Technologies (AMO), which helps firms such as Vodafone deliver video and TV content to their customers, issued a profit warning as it said trade conflicts were beginning to bite. Profits would be around £8.8million, only just higher than the £8.6million it made last year. Amino blamed instability in emerging markets delaying customer orders, trade tariffs in the US, change in the industry and increasing component prices.
TI Fluid Systems (TIFS), a FTSE 250 company which develops mechanisms to push fluid around cars, left its board and analysts scratching their heads as it became the index’s biggest loser. The group sank a sizeable 10.5%, or 25.2p, to 214.8p, even though it released no news, was not mentioned in the day’s broker notes and no unusually large trades occurred.
Melrose Industries (MRO), the turnaround investor which recently bought components manufacturer GKN, slipped the most amid an investor flight from the engineering sector.
Woodford Patient Capital Trust (WPCT) – Fund manager Neil Woodford, who has run into criticism over the past year for his lacklustre performance, had a day of ups and downs. Hvivo (HVO), a company which helps drugs businesses discover cures for infectious diseases in which Woodford has built a 29.1% stake, announced it had won two contracts with a global biopharmaceutical company. Hvivo will allow the unnamed firm to study the lifecycle of a particular cold-like virus in humans. But IP Group (IPO), in which Woodford has a 19.9% stake, had worse news. The company, which helps turn ideas founded in universities into businesses, owns a majority stake in pharmaceutical company Diurnal, which plummeted 57%, or 61p, to 46.5p after announcing a drug Chronocort had not passed late-stage trials. The drug is designed to treat congenital adrenal hyperplasia, a disease caused by a deficiency of the hormone cortisol which may stunt growth.
