Shareholder spring freezes over: Reckitt Benckiser, Rolls Royce, and GlaxoSmithKline give their approval to executive pay plans May 5, 2016 The prospect of a fresh shareholder spring was delivered another blow today. Shareholders of consumer goods giant Reckitt Benckiser, engineering firm Rolls Royce, and drug-maker GlaxoSmithKline all gave their approval to their respective executive pay packages with votes coming in above 80 per cent in favour across the board. Reckitt, now rebranded as RB, had the toughest time of the three [...]
Anglo American braces for investor revolt over executive pay April 20, 2016 FTSE 100-listed miner Anglo American is bracing for an investor revolt over execs' pay packets at its annual shareholder meeting tomorrow. Shareholder interest group, ShareSoc, has urged investors to vote against chief executive Mark Cutifani's reward package, which is worth £3.4m. Advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), representing about 20 per cent of shareholders in UK [...]
Not so much revolution as boardroom evolution April 28, 2016 We may not be in the throes of a full-on shareholder spring – as happened back in 2012 – but investors are definitely flexing their muscles. They railed against generous executive pay packages at BP and Anglo American (with 59 per cent and 42 per cent rejecting the remuneration deals, respectively), while smaller double-digit rebellions have [...]
AstraZeneca and HSBC chief executives next in line to face shareholder votes as report condemns boardroom pay practices as “broken” and “not fit for purpose” April 20, 2016 Boardroom pay practice is to be blasted as “not fit for purpose” tomorrow in an Investment Association report. It is published as AstraZeneca is the latest firm facing the prospect of a shareholder revolt over chief executive Pascal Soriot's £8.4m pay package. City A.M. has learned Royal London Asset Management (RLAM), which owns more than £500m, [...]
Best of the Brokers for 23 December 2015 December 23, 2015 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com Arden Partners have lowered its rating on Ankara-headquartered energy firm Genel Energy to “neutral”, due to an expected significant fall in production in the fourth quarter. Analysts reckon the fall in oil prices could mean export payments are under threat. However, Arden still [...]
Aviva doubles chief executive Mark Wilson’s pay packet to £5.6m in 2015 after Friends Life acquisition March 29, 2016 Insurance giant Aviva has doubled the pay of its chief executive Mark Wilson to £5.6m in 2015, up from £2.6m in 2014 following the acquisition on rival Friends Life. The company posted a 20 per cent rise in operating profit for 2015, along with a 15 per cent dividend hike to 20.8p. Ballooning executive pay packets have been [...]
Week ahead: Economic data and miners set to drive FTSE April 18, 2016 Investors will be wading through economic data this week, with the March unemployment report out on Wednesday and the latest retail sales and public finance figures due Thursday. On Friday the FTSE 100 index was down 21.35 points, or 0.3 per cent, at 6,343.75 points by the close, broadly in line with the European market. [...]
Centrica almost triples UK gas supply volume May 13, 2015 THE UK’s dependency on gas from Russia just increased, after Centrica signed a deal with state-owned giant Gazprom to ramp up the amount of energy it buys from the firm. Centrica has increased the volume of gas it is buying from Norway’s Statoil as well. Centrica, which owns British Gas, first struck a deal with [...]
Shareholder voices heard loud & clear April 28, 2016 The shareholder spring picked up pace yesterday, when investors voted against boardroom pay rewards for engineering firm Weir Group and Shire, the FTSE 100 pharmaceutical group. The revolts came on the back of major uprisings at oil giant BP, miner Anglo American, energy firm Centrica and financial behemoth Citigroup. “This year has seen a ‘spring [...]
Centrica boss in £2.4m share win May 7, 2015 BRITISH Gas-owner Centrica has rewarded its chief executive with company shares worth close to £2.4m The utility giant released news to the market as Brits went to the polls yesterday afternoon. It confirmed chief executive Iain Conn was awarded 943,012 shares as part of a bonus worth around £2.4m, while British Gas managing director Mark [...]