There should be no special access terms for directors

“There should be no special access terms for directors.”The TUC’s report follows continuing concern among employers about the cost of final-salary pensions, which guarantee benefits. His final-salary fund would cost £15.1m to transfer to another company, according to BP’s annual report. Compass’s Sir Francis Mackay’s has a transfer value worth £14.9m, while it would cost £13.8m to buy the pension rights of Cadbury Schweppes’ John Sunderland.John Cridland, the deputy director-general of the CBI, defended generous pension packages for directors. Shareholders also want MFI to consider demerging its profitable Howden Joinery business, where like-for-like sales rose 8 per cent.MFI’s trading statement covered the first eight months from 26 December 2004 to 7 September. A spokeswoman for the company said: “If there was a big investor call for it [Mr Hancock's resignation] it’s something the board would have to consider.”But shareholder unrest is emerging, although none of the main shareholders contacted by The Independent were willing to express their views in public. “We also wonder for how long John Hancock’s position is tenable?” Mr Hancock said he had no plans to resign. I can’t promise that we can maintain employment at current levels in this situation.”Analysts were quick to slash their profit forecasts after the new figures, which the company said reflected a deteriorating market place and increased volatility.”In all, a pretty appalling statement,” said Richard Ratner, the retail analyst at the stockbroker Seymour Pierce, who slashed his profit forecasts from £57.5m to £40m for 2005 and from £82.5m to £65m for 2006.

Mr Hancock warned of the possibility of job cuts in MFI’s 12,000 workforce in the face of fast-declining orders but it was his own job that was the subject of debate in the City.

“We’ve taken 400 jobs out over the summer,” he said “Clearly we will be going back and assessing all our costs. The future of John Hancock as chief executive of MFI was questioned by shareholders and analysts yesterday after the furniture retailer issued what amounted to a profit warning by revealing that its retail orders had fallen 15 per cent year on year over the past three months. The Lancet felt that this was no justification.The journal said it would be “naive to argue that the legality of a weapon somehow absolves a country, manufacturer, or even an exhibitions company from a judgement about the weapon’s use, sale, or promotion”.The Lancet called for Reed Elsevier to “divest itself of all business interests that threaten human, and especially civilian, health and well-being”.. The prestigious Lancet will publish an editorial today saying it is “deeply troubled” by Reed Elsevier’s backing for a major defence industry trade show to be held in London this month.
In particular, the publication is concerned that manufacturers of cluster bombs, “the worst kind of weapon”, will exhibit their product at the Defence Systems And Equipment International (DSEi) trade fair.”It will be incomprehensible to the journal’s readers that our owners are engaged in a business that so clearly undermines not only principles of public-health practice, but also the policies of intergovernmental agencies,” The Lancet said.Reed Elsevier is a world leader in science publishing but it also puts on 400 trade exhibitions a year.The company said: “It is Reed Elsevier Group Plc’s view that the defence industry is necessary for upholding national security, for the preservation of democratic values and supporting the ever widening role played by the Armed Forces.”The company also said all products being sold at the DSEi show were legal. He installed a new chief executive and pledged to stop the rot but Rentokil recently reported a 44 per cent drop in first-half profits, prompting the approach from Sir Gerry.. Reed Elsevier, the publishing giant, has been denounced by one of its own journals, The Lancet, for its links to the arms trade. Rentokil sources also noted that no other shareholders appeared to have come out in support of Sir Gerry.Mr McGowan took the helm at Rentokil last year after ousting its long-standing chairman and founder Sir Clive Thompson, following a sustained period of underperformance.

“We think Gerry Robinson would bring a sense of optimism and reinvigorate the company.”Mr McGowan said the Rentokil board had been aware that Franklin had been in discussions with Sir Gerry for months But he maintained that the proposals looked unlikely to be in the best interests of shareholders as a whole. “Our analysis of his abilities leads us to think he would be an excellent choice,” Mr Scott said. “There’s a lot of pessimism about the company from the investment community and in the company,” he told Bloomberg News. It added: “Executive rewards of that scale and without performance hurdles – as Raphoe proposes – do not meet the corporate governance and remuneration standards supported by the board of Rentokil and best practice.”Rentokil’s chairman Brian McGowan said: “Sir Gerry Robinson wants the shareholders to give up more than £75m of the company’s equity and in return he may agree to give them up to 35p per share of their own cash.”But Tucker Scott, a Geneva-based fund manager for Franklin Templeton, said Sir Gerry’s plan was “very interesting” and urged other shareholders to back it. There are no performance conditions attached to the share handout, which would come on top of whatever executive remuneration package the Rentokil board agreed with Sir Gerry.Rentokil said it was hard to see why Sir Gerry should receive such a significant stake in the company without putting any money into it himself.

The plan put forward by the former Granada Television chairman and star of the TV series I’ll Show Them Who’s Boss would also result in the payment of a £600m special dividend to shareholders and the injection of new management from outside the pest control to potted plants group.

Franklin Templeton, the US fund which has built a 14.75 per cent stake in Rentokil since February, said it was backing the proposal from Sir Gerry and urged other shareholders to “seriously consider the idea”.Sir Gerry said if it became apparent his plan was attractive to a “significant body” of Rentokil shareholders but the board still opposed it, he would reserve the right to make a hostile bid for the company.But the Rentokil board said Sir Gerry’s proposals “look unlikely to be in the best interests of shareholders” and criticised the large sums Sir Gerry and his bid vehicle, Raphoe Management, stood to make.Under the terms of the plan, Raphoe, in which Sir Gerry holds a 72 per cent stake, would receive 46.3 million Rentokil shares over a three-year period and its portion of a 35p-a-share special dividend which would be paid to all shareholders after Sir Gerry was installed as executive chairman for a minimum of three years.The plan would net Raphoe more than £79m at last night’s closing share price, of which £58m would go to Sir Gerry and £21m to Europa Partners, the other main Raphoe shareholder. Rentokil Initial has rejected a proposal from Sir Gerry Robinson which would net him £58m and make him executive chairman of the company, although the plan has secured the backing of the company’s biggest shareholder. Yesterday the company said it will publish its 2006 brochure six weeks earlier than last year to try to recoup lost ground.. It may also have to slash prices to drive up occupancy rates and compete with its cheaper rivals. Margins were down 1.2 per cent over the year.Earlier this year, Parkdeansaid it would face a difficult summer after it delayed the publication of its 2005 brochure to incorporate five newly acquired parks.

Paul Leyland, of Seymour Pierce, said: “If the consumer slowdown continues in to 2006, occupancy will be impacted.”The hardest hit area throughout the school holidays was Cornwall, where the company plans to reduce its capacity. Although on-site retail sales across the group were up 2.1 per cent despite fewer visitors, sales at its new sites have been disappointing.The company said on-site sales at its newly acquired parks were “below expectations” as a result of lower occupancy levels. are booking marginally slower than last year.” Its shares closed 12.5p down at 219.5p.
Analysts cut their forecasts for Parkdean by as much as 8 per cent as the company reported a drop in like-for-like revenues of 2.3 per cent to 5 September. “This has continued throughout the peak season culminating in below normal occupancy during the main school holidays In addition, holidays for late September and October … Shares in the campingand caravan park owner fell 5 per cent on the news, worsened by fears that forward bookings for the autumn period are also lagging behind last year’s performance. “This year’s market conditions in the UK holiday-park sector have been more challenging than any previously experienced,” the company said. Parkdean Holidayswarned yesterday its profits for the year ending in October will miss expectations after a poor school holiday period.