UK companies may struggle to cover dividends as profitability plummets September 29, 2015 Dividend cover for the UK’s top 350 shares has dropped to a near six-year low as profitability among the country’s largest firms has dwindled, according to research from The Share Centre. Dividend cover is a ratio defined by profit after tax divided by dividends paid. The higher the ratio, the greater the comfort that a [...]
Diversity on executive boards: Better for business September 28, 2015 Diversity on executive boards can help companies to outperform firms with all-male leaderships, according to new research from Grant Thornton. A study by the group estimates that the opportunity cost, in terms of lower returns on assets, for companies with male-only boards was £430bn in 2014. The report, Women in business: the value of diversity, [...]
Turkish delight: McVitie’s owner melts biscuits into same £3.6bn company as Godiva June 8, 2016 McVitie’s biscuits have been melted into the same company as chocolatier Godiva. Yildiz Holding, the Turkish owner of Godiva Chocolatier, Ulker, DeMet’s Candy Company and McVitie’s maker United Biscuits, has brought the brands together to form Pladis. The $5.2bn (£3.6bn) revenue company will be London-headquartered and aims to float on the London Stock Exchange as a FTSE 100 firm as [...]
Business groups warn that UK gender pay gap can’t be eradicated with “box-ticking” October 25, 2015 The government has announced new requirements for big businesses aimed at getting rid of the gender pay gap “in a generation”. Under new rules set out by Prime Minister David Cameron and equalities minister Nicky Morgan yesterday, large employers will now be required to publish information about bonuses paid to men and women as part [...]
Prime minister David Cameron’s Remain pleas met with hostility from the TV audience June 19, 2016 Prime minister David Cameron made a last-ditch attempt to drum up support for the remain campaign today, but his pleas were met with hostility from the TV audience. Appearing on BBC Question Time four days before the vote, he was repeatedly thrown questions on immigration, and struggled to defend the government's target of cutting it to below 100,000. Cameron acknowledged that [...]
Sex Discrimination Act anniversary: What is Romania getting right when it comes to diverse tech talent? November 12, 2015 I cannot help but think there is a lot we can learn from Eastern Europe when it comes to producing female talent for our technology industry. Today is the 40th anniversary of the Sex Discrimination Act being passed in the UK and in most industries, progress has been achieved. Not least there are more women [...]
Lord Davies’ review: Government-backed report targets women holding one third of board seats by 2020 October 28, 2015 The Davies Review is setting a new target for a third of all board members at Britain’s biggest listed companies to be women, as a separate new study warns that the country’s boardroom diversity “risks going into reverse gear”. In his final Women on Boards report tomorrow, Lord Mervyn Davies, a former chairman and chief [...]
Lord Davies report: Politicians and business groups say they are disappointed by final recommendations October 29, 2015 The final Davies Review report has been criticised by politicians and business groups for not going far enough to address gender diversity among senior managers. In his final Women on Boards report this morning, Lord Mervyn Davies, a former chairman and chief executive of Standard Chartered, said that 33 per cent of all board seats [...]
China woes and miners’ troubles weigh on index – London Report October 14, 2015 MIXED Chinese economic data and falls in mining shares weighed on the FTSE 100 yesterday. However, declines were mitigated somewhat by a surge in drinks group SABMiller following a new takeover proposal from rival AB InBev. The blue-chip index, which fell on Monday to end an eight-day winning run, was down 0.5 per cent at [...]
FTSE 100 heads for biggest weekly gain in six weeks May 27, 2016 Britain's FTSE 100 was on course for its biggest weekly gain in six weeks today. The commodity heavy blue-chip index was up 1.7 per cent on the week, after oil prices touched $50 per barrel yesterday, and bank shares also made gains. It was down 0.1 per cent to 6,260.3 points in late afternoon trading. The [...]