Vodafone’s pay deal opposed by adviser Pirc July 11, 2012 VODAFONE was delivered a blow yesterday when investor advisory body Pirc urged shareholders to vote against the telco’s remuneration report. But the telecoms giant could still escape the so-called shareholder spring which has scalped some of Britain’s top companies, as the ABI and Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) both supported Vodafone’s pay deal. Looking ahead to [...]
Glencore may force Davis out June 25, 2012 ONE OF Xstrata’s most prominent investors has turned up the pressure on chief exec Mick Davis, warning that he could be forced to resign as part of the tie-up with Glencore. Standard Life head of equities David Cummings, who has spoken out against the deal, told the BBC that “to preserve the integrity of the [...]
ABI: dividend should come before bonus December 6, 2011 A MAJOR shareholder group has slammed banks for letting executive pay get out of sync with results, in a sign of growing investor activism over the hot button issue of banker bonuses. The Association of British Insurers (ABI), whose members own some 15 per cent of FTSE 100 stock, has sent a letter to the [...]
ABI: dividend should come before bonus December 6, 2011 A MAJOR shareholder group has slammed banks for letting executive pay get out of sync with results, in a sign of growing investor activism over the hot button issue of banker bonuses. The Association of British Insurers (ABI), whose members own some 15 per cent of FTSE 100 stock, has sent a letter to the [...]
Investor wrath moves to IAG and Heritage June 17, 2012 THE UK’s shareholder spring could this week give way to a sizzling shareholder summer, as newly emboldened investors keep up the pressure on company boards. The biggest potential for fireworks this week comes on Thursday when the board of struggling Heritage Oil faces investors, disappointed at the two-thirds reduction in the company’s value over the [...]
Insurance groups try to assess the cost of recent flood damage June 24, 2012 INSURANCE companies are expected to calculate within days the cost of this week’s flooding in the UK, a spokesperson from the Association of British Insurers (ABI) told City A.M. yesterday. The rainfall on Saturday was equal to a whole month’s normal rainfall, weather experts said. Insurance companies have been trying to provide immediate services to [...]
Pension groups urge firms to listen to investors on exec pay June 19, 2012 INVESTOR groups complained yesterday that executive pay in the financial sector remains “wildly out of line” with the rest of the country. Speaking the day before business secretary Vince Cable is due to unveil his plans to tighten up executive pay rules, bosses from the National Association of Pension Funds and other investing bodies told [...]
Xstrata under fire for merger bonus package June 21, 2012 XSTRATA urged investors to focus on the business merits of its mega-merger with Glencore yesterday after an influential investor group issued its most severe warning against the firm’s huge pay packages for top staff. The Association of British Insurers issued a “red top” warning against retention payments promised to directors at Xstrata if the merger [...]
Car insurers set to face inquiry over charges May 31, 2012 THE car insurance industry is set to be investigated by the competition watchdog after it used the cost of repairs and replacement vehicles to jack up premiums by £225m a year. Insurers compete in a “dysfunctional” manner, said the Office of Fair Trading, as it referred the sector to the Competition Commission. The OFT said [...]
Silence isn’t necessarily golden, but the handcuffs are June 21, 2012 CAN Invensys blame the market for not entirely believing the engineer’s belated assurances yesterday that “there are no other discussions taking place in relation to an offer for the group”? On Wednesday, the British firm’s shares soared by more than a quarter, but the firm stubbornly refused to comment on this extreme price action. Its [...]