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Sainsbury’s chief Mike Coupe vows to stay as failed Asda deal hits profits. Under-pressure Sainsbury (J) (SBRY)
boss Mike Coupe on Wednesday vowed to stay on despite the grocer’s failed £7.6 billion mega-merger with Asda. Coupe, who orchestrated the takeover deal that was killed by the competition watchdog last week, said: “I’m committed to the business. I’ve got the support of the board and the support of the shareholders.” The cost of the takeover misadventure was laid out in results on Wednesday as it spent £46 million on the Asda deal, part of a whopping £396 million bill of one-off items that sent pre-tax profits down 41.6% to £239 million for the year to March 9. But stripping those out underlying profits were up 8% to £653 million, slightly ahead of expectations, thanks to solid sales of groceries and £160 million coming from Argos, which it bought in 2016 for £1.4 billion. Same-store sales fell by 0.9% in the final quarter and 0.2% for the full year.
Provident says 90 payments by hostile bidder ‘were unlawful’. Provident Financial (PFG) beefed up its attack on hostile bidder Non-Standard Finance (NSF) on Wednesday by highlighting 90 different shareholder payouts it says broke the law. The doorstep lender, which is facing down the £1.3 billion offer, said £16 million of dividends and buybacks paid by NSF came from money recycled from its original flotation three years ago. It said there were 5 ‘unlawful’ dividends paid between October 2016 and October 2018 and 85 ‘unlawful and consequently void’ share buy-backs between November 2017 and March 2019. Provvy said NSF had never made a post-tax profit.
GVC boss pockets £37m in two years with second bumper payday. GVC Holdings (GVC) , the owner of bookmakers Ladbrokes and Coral, has come under fire for paying its chief executive almost £20m last year, risking a further investor rebellion. Kenny Alexander took home a total of £19.1m in 2018 after being paid £18.3m the year before, bringing the total to just over £37m. His 2018 pay packet included £16.4m in “legacy awards” relating to the company’s acquisition of European online betting firm Bwin in 2016, according to figures in GVC’s annual report published on Wednesday. The figures sparked criticism from Luke Hildyard of the High Pay Centre: “These are extraordinarily large sums of money, even by the standards of big business.”
Persimmon (PSN) slows house sales to focus on fixing battered reputation. Housebuilder Persimmon’s sales slowed as it deliberately slowed down the rate at which new homes were available to buy to ensure they are finished on time. The company has faced criticism for failing to build homes in time for buyers’ expected move-in dates but said it was now taking “a more targeted approach to the timing of sales releases”. That has led to a 5% drop in the average number of homes sold per site since the start of this year. The total number of sites also fell from 375 to 350, leaving forward sales down around 4pc at £2.7bn.
Burke hands in his chips at Rank Group. Ian Burke has announced plans to step down from the Rank Group (RNK) board after 13 years as chief executive, executive chairman then non-executive chairman — and this time he won’t be changing his mind. It is the second time that Mr Burke, 62, a former chief executive of Thistle Hotels, has resigned from the gaming operator. In 2011, in the middle of a bid from the Malaysian tycoon Quek Leng Chan, he quit as chief executive only to agree to return a week later in the enlarged role of executive chairman. He had walked out over the advice given to investors by the independent directors during the extraordinary takeover saga, which ended up with Mr Quek’s Guoco Group acquiring a majority stake in Rank. It retains a 56% holding.