PRESS DIGEST-British Business - May 2

In This Article:

May 2 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories on the business pages of British newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

The Times

- Shareholders in Smith & Nephew have revolted over plans to increase pay for its U.S.-based executive directors closer to American levels, one of a number of big public companies to face investor rebellions at annual meetings on Wednesday.

- A further 100 Matchesfashion employees have lost their jobs after Mike Ashley's Frasers Group said it would buy back only parts of the collapsed luxury platform.

The Guardian

- Manchester United have announced that their interim chief executive, Patrick Stewart, and chief financial officer, Cliff Baty, will leave the club at the end of the season.

- London's stock exchange is to lose another high-profile company after shareholders in the Paddy Power owner Flutter backed a proposal to move its primary listing to New York.

The Telegraph

- GSK chief Dame Emma Walmsley has downplayed concerns that British companies are failing to compete with US-style executive pay packages and insisted she was "very well paid" when asked about London's rewards system.

- Four large high street banks made a profit of more than 9 billion pounds ($11.27 billion) from the Bank of England's money-printing programme Threadneedle Street last year, more than double the 3.9 billion pounds they were handed in 2022.

Sky News

- Some of the leading players in Britain's night-time economy like Nightcap and Rekom are among the parties that expressed interest in buying part or all of the London-listed leisure group Revolution Bars.

- Buyout firms including Bridgepoint and Cinven are circling for a takeover of financial services consultant Alpha Financial Markets Consulting, which has a market capitalisation of nearly 400 million pounds ($500.84 million).

The Independent

- A Barclays London office was cordoned off by police on Wednesday after pro-Palestine protesters are alleged to have sprayed the building with red paint.

- More than half a million firms in Britain are in "significant" financial distress, with thousands facing insolvency over the coming months as Britain's economy continues to stutter, a new report has said.

($1 = 0.7987 pounds) (Compiled by Bengaluru newsroom)