Supermarket giant Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) has been blasted for ‘rewarding failure’ by handing bumper rewards to chief executive Mike Coupe despite a calamitous end to his attempted merger with Asda. His plan to create a £50billion grocery giant was quashed by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in April. The shares have since plummeted to a 30-year low. Coupe caused outrage after he was caught on camera singing We’re In The Money the day the firm announced its merger plan. He received £3.9million, 7% more than he received a year earlier. That compares with the £4.6million handed to Tesco’s Dave Lewis, who has been lauded for reviving his firm’s fortunes. In a report seen by The Mail on Sunday, shareholder advisory body Glass Lewis challenged Sainsbury’s board and pay committee to explain the size of executive bonuses following the shares crash. ‘The committee have failed to outline the impact, if any, of the failed deal on the bonus outcomes of the executives, particularly in light of share price performance as a direct result.’ It said the reward could represent ‘divergence of bonus outcome from shareholder experience’.
House of Fraser’s Hull store will close in August despite personal guarantees from the chain’s owner Mike Ashley that it would remain open. The closure has raised doubts about the future of other outlets which Ashley rescued from administration last year. In March, the firm said 54 stores were still operating and five would close. Since then, it has emerged that the future of the Altrincham branch is also in doubt, despite being named by parent company on a list of 20 that had been ‘saved after landlords agree to new terms’. Billionaire Ashley said in September that it was ‘great news’ the store would remain open, despite ‘a small number of greedy landlords’ that ‘still refuse to be reasonable’. And shortly before Christmas, he said the Hull branch was getting ‘a second chance, saving over 100 jobs’.
Transport giant FirstGroup (FGP) faces a dramatic showdown with investors on Tuesday after the rail and bus company’s largest shareholder launched a final push to unseat a string of board members. Last night, James Rasteh, a partner at New York-based hedge fund Coast Capital, which owns almost 10% of FirstGroup’s shares, broke ranks to complain of the ‘arrogance’ of the group’s chairman. He said the board’s management of the business has been ‘shocking’ and described the company’s expansion of its rail franchise as ‘sheer folly’.As well as clearing out the board, Coast Capital wants the group to halt the sale of First Bus and address the growing pension deficit at the company, which has been mired in problems at its rail franchise operations.
One of the few cannabis firms listed in London is considering a move to America’s heavyweight Nasdaq Exchange. AfriAg Global plc (AFRI) is listed on the Nex Exchange and is merging with Apollon Formularies, a Jamaica-based company that makes cannabis-related medical products to sell at clinics. Entrepreneur David Lenigas, the executive chairman of AfriAg, said: ‘We are interested in moving on to AIM or the London Stock Exchange’s main market when appropriate, but if that alternative doesn’t become available then we will consider moving our listing to Nasdaq in the US.’ City sources said that at the moment the LSE and its junior AIM market aren’t keen to allow cannabis-related firms to list on their exchanges, but are coming under pressure to change their policy on marijuana companies. As a result, AfriAg and similar businesses, such as Sativa, have had to list on London’s little-known Nex Exchange.
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