CITY WHISPERS: Are Britain’s fattest cats on a money diet? That’s what you might conclude after reading annual reports of FTSE 100 heavy-hitters
Are Britain’s fattest cats on a money diet? That’s what you might conclude after browsing through the annual reports of several FTSE 100 heavy-hitters.
Last week, Sebastien de Montessus, boss of Endeavor Mining – crowned the highest paid boss in The Mail on Sunday’s 2022 Fat Cat Files report – saw his compensation more than halved to around £9 million. He had received £18.8 million the previous year.
AstraZeneca boss Pascal Soriot, the second highest paid in the Fat Cat Files, took home £15.3 million.
Calm before the storm: are Britain’s fattest cats on a money diet?
If the Montessus is on a crash diet, Soriot is less strict with his intake, as his salary fell only slightly from the £15.7 million he earned in 2021.
Albert Manifold, head of construction materials firm CRH, which was third on the list, saw his salary fall 13 percent to £10.7 million.
Perhaps he’s hoping for a favorable exchange rate against the dollar with his move to move CRH’s stock exchange listing from London to New York.
Smiles all round for climate activists
Eco-campaigners have something to smile about. After a great rally in 2022, coal stocks in London have tanked so far this year.
MC Mining has more than halved in value and Thungela Resources – spun off from Anglo American last year – is down nearly a third.
Thermal coal prices are at their lowest since January 2022.
Drax and EDF have ruled out leaving their back-up coal-fired power plants on for the coming winter, so it looks like Britain won’t be boosting King Coal again either.
Hitting the wrong note at Signature
After days of wall-to-wall banking news, it’s easy to forget that US lender Signature Bank collapsed just a week ago.
Even more memorable are the music videos that the Signature executive team had made about themselves.
These videos – including a Signature promotion of the Katy Perry song Firework – and comedy skits are likely etched in the memories of anyone who had to watch them.
Yes, these types of projects may be fun for some, but these were reportedly pricey and hard to find not to cringe.
They give off energy that is more Dunder Mifflin, from the US version of The Office, than that of a bank with £91 billion in assets by the end of 2022.
Icelandic Tory candidate silent on business rates
Icelandic boss Richard Walker has been curiously quiet after Jeremy Hunt’s failure last week to address business rate pressures that are weighing down the high street.
Usually a prominent advocate for a review of the dreaded retail tax, Walker declined to comment after the chancellor brushed off business rates in his inaugural budget.
The Icelandic heir could claim to be distracted as he prepares to climb Mount Everest next month.
But he had another reason to remain schtum: He’s an endorsed Tory candidate who hopes to contest a seat in the next election.
“I’m keeping my head down at the moment to keep CCHQ happy,” Whispers is heard to have said.
Good luck with that…