The retailer said that a decline in clothing sales and higher costs from opening new food stores were partly to blame for the 64% fall.
Sales were flat at £10.6bn in the year to the end of March 2017.
Chief executive Steve Rowe revealed that like-for-like sales in his first full year in charge fell by 1.9% in the UK.
The slide followed a 5.9% fall in the three months to April.
The fact that Easter fell later this year hit the company hard, although Mr Rowe added that the fall was also partly due to a push for more clothes being sold at full price.
Clothing and home sales revenue still fell by 3.4%, although food performed better, falling just 2.1% in the fourth quarter.
Mr Rowe said the company remained "on track" with its turnaround plans announced last year, which include opening new food-only stores, selling clothing and homewares in fewer stores and cutting back on discounting.
"We are almost exactly where we thought we would be and we are pleased with what we delivered this year," he said.
The firm was hit by a number of sizeable one-off costs, including £156m to make changes to its pension scheme, £132m on international store closures, and another £49m on changes to its UK store estate and "onerous lease charges" related to that estate.
A further £44m was absorbed by M&S Bank being hit by charges incurred in relation to insurance mis-selling.
Excluding these one-off costs, profits were down 10% to £613.8m.
The baby care chain said it would slash its 152-strong UK store estate further to between 80 and 100 shops as it moves to the "second phase" of an overhaul.
Mothercare has already been axing loss-making shops and refurbishing its estate to boost flagging UK sales, having shut 21 stores in the year to March 25.
Chief executive Mark Newton-Jones said he wants stores to be focused on key locations nationwide, while acting as specialist advice and service points to support online sales.
He said: "We are clear in the role our stores will play for the future, by offering specialist advice and service and first class product presentation.
"Store numbers will reduce over time as we focus on a regional presence in key conurbations across the UK."
His turnaround efforts have been helping return the UK arm to health, with the group seeing its first underlying profit for six years in the final half of its financial year - with a surplus of £4.4 million.
The UK remained loss-making overall in the year, with underlying losses of £4.4 million after a "difficult" first half, but this was narrowed from losses of £6.4 million the previous year.
Mobile phone customers could soon be able to dump their network provider by text.
Ofcom says people shouldn’t need to make a potentially long and uncomfortable phone call to their operator in order to switch networks, as they currently have to.
Research conducted by the regulator also shows that these calls can often be disrupted, causing further stress.
According to Ofcom, 38 per cent of people trying to switch network providers have been hit by one major problem during the process.
These include temporarily losing service, issues with keeping a number and even difficulties with getting through to the mobile provider in the first place.
The proposed new system, which is called Auto Switch, should save consumers time and money.
All they would need to do is text their current provider, which would have to respond by texting back a cancellation code, or a PAC code for customers intending to keep their number, as well as relevant account information, such as early termination charges or credit.
Customers can then pass their code to their new provider.
Ofcom says the entire switching process could be completed within one working day.
The regulator would also ban operators from charging for notice periods after the date of the switch, meaning customers will be protected from having to pay for both their old and new package at the same time.
A consultation on the proposals will run until 30 June, before a final decision is made in autumn.
Ofcom had previously been exploring a system in which a customer’s new network would be responsible for conducting the switch.
However, those plans would have cost the industry £87 million over ten years, rather than the £44 million under the new proposals.
Hong Kong’s flagship airline Cathay Pacific said Monday it would cut 600 staff including a quarter of its management, as part of its biggest shakeup in two decades to repair its bottom line.
In March the company posted its first annual net loss in eight years, citing intense competition as lower cost airlines, particularly from mainland China, eat into its market share.
It pledged at the time to slash costs by 30 percent after its $74 million net loss in 2016 reversed a $773 million profit in the previous year.
In a company statement Monday, the airline said it would shed 190 management roles as well as 400 non-managerial positions at its Hong Kong head office.
“We have had to make tough but necessary decisions for the future of our business and our customers,” said CEO Rupert Hogg.
“Changes in people’s travel habits and what they expect from us, evolving competition and a challenging business outlook have created the need for significant change.”
No pilots, cabin crew or frontline employees would be affected but they would be asked “to deliver greater efficiencies and productivity improvements”, the statement said.
Aviation analyst Corrine Png told AFP the company was moving “in the right direction” as it looked to transform the business and improve cost competitiveness.
“The challenge is when you start to cut staff head count... you really have to keep the staff morale high,” she said.
“They haven’t really touched the frontline-pilots, cabin crew, customer service-so at least this part hopefully will reduce the possibility of compromising the product.”
Singapore Airlines (SIA) also reported a net loss of Sg$138.3 million ($99.4 million) in the fourth quarter last Thursday, causing full-year net profit to drop by more than half from the previous year.
It said in a statement that a “wide-ranging review” of the company’s network, fleet, services and organisational structure was underway.
Intense competition has continued to hit premium carriers despite an expansion of international air travel in the region, as mainland Chinese airlines aggressively scale up long-haul routes.
Cathay announced a major restructuring programme in January after posting its first annual net loss since 2008 at the height of the financial crisis.
The airline is also losing premium travellers as it comes under pressure from Middle East rivals that are expanding into Asia and offering more luxury touches.
“Job cuts is obviously the most effective measure in the short term but Cathay’s problem is not coming from within, it’s growing competition from outside from full-service peers in the mainland and Middle East to budget carriers,” Yu Zhanfu of Roland Berger Strategy Consultants told Bloomberg News.
“Cathay has been suffering decline in both yield and load factor. That’s what Cathay needs to urgently address by sharpening their competitiveness externally,” Yu added.
The staff cut is the first major announcement since Hogg replaced Ivan Chu on May 1 as part of a management overhaul.
Cathay shares rose more than 3 per cent in early trade but pared gains to sit 1.6 per cent higher in the afternoon.
The 13-year-old company will open two restaurants in Washington DC in the next year after the cash injection, which gives Spice a “significant” minority stake.
Co-founder John Vincent said Leon has the funds to grow significantly in the US, but is proceeding with caution.
“The principle is to fire bullets, then cannon balls. No one from the UK goes to America and sees it as an easy ride. Just because we speak the same language doesn’t mean to say we have the same culture. We’ll learn so much and make tonnes of mistakes.”
Fersen Lambranho, chairman of Spice’s controlling shareholder GP Investments, said Leon had “immense potential to become global”.
“We see Leon as an opportunity to replicate the great success of a former investment, Fogo de Chão, a Brazilian steakhouse that expanded into the US and is now listed on the Nasdaq.”
Volkswagen chief executive Matthias Mueller on Wednesday stood in the focus of an investigation into the world’s largest carmaker’s ‘dieselgate’ scandal for the first time, along with other key players at the firm.
Mueller and others “...are suspected of knowingly delaying telling shareholders about the financial consequences for Porsche SE of software manipulation in diesel vehicles by Volkswagen AG,” prosecutors in southwestern city Stuttgart said in a statement.
Porsche SE, separate from VW subsidiary Porsche AG, is a holding company with a majority stake in Volkswagen, and is itself owned by the descendants of renowned VW Beetle inventor Ferdinand Porsche.
VW admitted in September 2015 to using so-called “defeat device” software to cheat regulatory nitrogen oxides emissions tests in some 11 million cars worldwide, pitching the world’s largest carmaker into the deepest crisis in its history.
The revelations sent the group’s shares plummeting by 40 per cent in two days.
Along with Mueller, former VW CEO Martin Winterkorn and Porsche SE chairman Hans-Dieter Poetsch are also suspected of failing to share information with investors in their roles as Porsche SE board members, prosecutors said.
As chief executive of Porsche AG until 2015, when he took over from Winterkorn as Volkswagen chief, Mueller was not caught up in probes into those who sat on the parent company’s board up until the scandal broke.
But he did sit on the Porsche SE board before the revelations, making him a target for the present allegations.
“Porsche SE sees the accusations raised as unfounded. It believes that it has always fulfilled its duties of publication under capital markets law in an orderly fashion,” the firm countered in a statement Wednesday.
Employment hit a record high in March and joblessness fell to its lowest level since 1975 as Britain’s businesses kept on hiring more workers.
A total of 31.95m people are now in work - the highest level on record - which amounts to 74.8pc of 16 to 64-year olds, also an unprecedented high, according to data from the Office for National Statistics.
Unemployment fell to 4.6pc in the three months to April, the lowest level since 1975. That means there are currently 1.54m people out of work, the lowest number since 2005.
There are also more vacancies on offer than ever before with 777,000 jobs advertised from February to April, indicating companies want to hire more staff in the months ahead.
But pay increased at 2.4pc in the year to March, falling behind prices, which rose by 2.7pc in April.
Excluding bonuses the picture was even more downbeat, with regular weekly pay rising by only 2.1pc year-on-year.
The Bank of England hoped that pay would start rising once unemployment fell to around 4.5pc, but there are few signs of this happening yet - even though the apparently strong demand for workers and low unemployment rate would usually push employers to pay more.
“We continue to think that this tightening will deliver a modest rise in nominal wage growth over the course of this year," said Paul Hollingsworth at Capital Economics. "It might not be enough to keep up with inflation, which we expect to peak at just over 3pc in the fourth quarter.
“However, as inflation begins to fall back next year as the upward pressures from the drop in the pound start to fade, we think real wages will begin to rise again. As a result, the forthcoming squeeze on real wage growth should be nowhere near as severe or prolonged as that seen after the financial crisis.”
It came as separate Bank of England data showed pay deals remained subdued "across the economy".
The Bank's monthly agents’ report, which gathers the opinions of 700 businesses across the UK, said consumers were cutting back on spending amid a squeeze in their incomes due to higher inflation.
Some labour costs were rising, particularly in manufacturing, but the Bank data showed pay deals were barely keeping up with price growth.
"Pay awards remained clustered around 2pc and 2.5pc across the economy," it said.
Around 40pc of pay deals are negotiated in April, the Bank has previously noted.
Official data on Tuesday showed inflation climbed to 2.7pc in the year to April - its highest since mid-2013. Many economists expect the rate to hit 3pc in the coming months.
While the fall in the value of the pound since the Brexit vote has pushed up inflation, there were further signs that it is boosting Britain's competitiveness.
"Consumer spending growth had moderated in real terms, as spending power had been hit by higher prices," the Bank said.
"But manufacturing export growth had risen. That had mostly reflected the effects of the earlier decline in sterling."
The Bank said manufacturing output had strengthened over the past month amid rising demand at home and abroad, driven by the automotive and aerospace sector.
The Bank's survey of 300 businesses showed most expected further export growth in the coming year - both in value and volume terms.
Goods exporters were particularly upbeat, with respondents citing the fall in the value of the pound and optimism about entry into new markets expected to push up export values, even as uncertainty over the UK's future relationship with the EU exerts a drag.
Respondents to the Bank 's survey said their availability to do business in new markets would be the "most important factor" affecting future export growth over the medium term.
There were also signs that companies are more willing to invest, which the Bank said was consistent with "modest growth in spending over the year ahead".
Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said last week that many companies remained hesitant to plough cash into new projects while the UK's future relationship with the EU remained uncertain.
"We see some pick-up in investment and some positive contribution from net trade for most of the forecast, but it’s not booming," he said.
The economy slowed down in the first quarter of the year even as employment rose strongly, so the amount of value produced per hour of work - a key measure of productivity - fell by 0.5pc. That is the first fall since late 2015, and reverses the 0.4pc rise in the measure in the final quarter of 2016.
Productivity growth is crucial to long-term improvements in wages and living standards, so the poor performance in the UK, and many developed economies, is a concern to analysts and policymakers.
Employment overall rose by 112,000 compared with the previous month, and by 381,000 on the year.
Most of the new workers - 91,000 on the month - found full-time jobs, while 21,000 gained part-time jobs.
Of the 8.5m part-time workers in the UK, only 12.4pc said they want a full-time job but have been unable to find one - the smallest proportion since 2009.
The high street bank said last week the Government's stake had been reduced to 0.25% and the UK taxpayer was set to make at least a £500 million profit from the final sale.
It is understood the Government's final tranche of Lloyds shares have now been sold, with an official announcement set to be made when the regulatory news service opens at 7am on Wednesday.
Speaking at the bank's annual general meeting on Thursday, chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio said a return to private ownership represents a "major milestone" in efforts to turn the bank around from the "crisis" it faced a few years ago.
At its peak, Lloyds was 43% owned by the state after the Government spent £20.3 billion of taxpayers' cash to bail it out during the banking crisis.
Which? said it was writing to lenders for an explanation, six months after the payments regulator stopped short of its demand that banks be made liable for authorised push payment losses that often involved "life-changing" amounts of money.
The consumer group had launched a so-called super-complaint last year that pointed out that, unlike other payment methods, victims conned into sending money by transfer to a fraudster have no legal right to get their money back from their bank.
The Payment Systems Regulator responded by urging banks to work together to crack down on the scammers but ruled there was insufficient evidence to change the liability rule.
Which? argued it was clear people were still losing money as it was being contacted by victims.
It described how one was offered compensation of 10p by their bank after criminals cleared their account of £17,500.
A survey it commissioned earlier this month suggested 8% of people had made a bank transfer, or knew someone that had made a payment, that later turned out to be to a fraudster.
It said just over half of those people had fallen victim in the last six months.
Which? money expert Gareth Shaw said: "Despite the fact that consumers are still losing life-changing sums of money to fraudsters, it's not clear what meaningful action the banks have taken to protect their customers.
"People assume that banks will look after them and their money. So it's vital that the industry, regulator and next Government act quickly and decisively to tackle financial fraud."
Industry group Financial Fraud Action UK responded: "Protecting customers from fraud is a top priority for every bank.
"Financial Fraud Action UK has agreed a clear action plan with the regulator on push payment fraud and the industry is working hard to deliver this to the agreed timetable."
Its statement added: "At the same time, we are working with law enforcement and government, through the Joint Fraud Taskforce, to tackle fraudsters.
"Across the industry, and with partners, we are developing new processes to help police intervene when potential victims visit a bank branch, and we are exploring new ways to track stolen funds moved between multiple bank accounts."
A spokesman for the Payment Systems Regulator said it was currently gathering evidence on the industry's efforts to crack down on such fraud.
He added: "We committed to seeing the industry work together to take a pro-active stance on protecting consumers from fraud.
"We said we would report back publicly in the second half of the year and we remain on track to do so."
US auto giant Ford is poised to cut thousands of jobs worldwide, with reductions expected to total about 10 percent of its global workforce, the Wall Street Journal reported late Monday.
A source confirmed to AFP that massive job cuts are planned at Ford in the coming days, affecting as many as 20,000 salaried workers.
America's second largest carmaker, Ford currently employs some 202,000 workers worldwide.
The announcement comes as the company grapples with slowing sales after several years of growth.
April saw the automaker sell 214,695 vehicles, some 7.2 percent fewer than the same time one year earlier.
Ford spokesman Mike Moran said the company's immediate goals "include fortifying the profit pillars in our core business, transforming traditionally underperforming areas of our core business and investing aggressively, but prudently, in emerging opportunities."
To that end, Ford will make efforts at "reducing costs and becoming as lean and efficient as possible," said Moran, who offered no comment on rumors of major staffing reductions.
"We have not announced any new people efficiency actions, nor do we comment on speculation," he said.
Dyson plans to reopen its legal battle with German engineering group Bosch after securing a victory in the European courts last week.
The company founded by billionaire entrepreneur Sir James Dyson won an appeal in the European Court of Justice related to the way in which the energy efficiency of its devices are measured.
Judges backed the British company’s argument that the way power consumption of vacuum cleaners was measured is flawed.
Dyson said its “cyclonic” design did not lose power in normal use like traditional designs, which are less efficient as they fill up with dust and require more power.
The ruling said a previous case was flawed because the tests only measured efficiency when the bags of traditional vacuums were empty. It added that tests should be as close as possible to real life conditions, where vacuums’ dust bags would typically be fuller.
Max Conze, chef executive of Dyson, said the latest ruling gave the company the confidence to restart the legal battle with Bosch, having previously lost a case claiming that the company was misleading customers over the energy rating of its devices.
Dyson alleged the German business committed consumer fraud over the energy ratings of its devices, claiming the amount of power they used was higher when used at home than in test conditions.
A Netherlands court ruled Dyson’s claims were “completely baseless” but Mr Conze said the latest legal ruling meant the company would restart its fight.
“We feel vindicated by this clear opinion from the European Court of Justice and will go back and open proceedings against Bosch as appropriate,” the chief executive said.
“Consumers are buying products because they want to be environmentally friendly. This is simple, it’s about doing the right thing by consumers: we want what the energy rating it says on the box to be the true energy rating and that is clearly not the case now.”
Dyson previously campaigned for vacuum cleaners to be limited 700 watts of power because it was convinced its devices were more efficient and did not need the more powerful motors used by rivals.
Sir James even used the point to argue for Britain leaving the EU, saying he was outvoted by German vacuum cleaner manufacturers, many of whom make products with large motors that use bags, and therefore lose suction when loaded with dust.
“Washing machines are tested with washing in them, cars are tested with people in them, and fridges are tested with food in them. But when it came to our request to test vacuum cleaners with dust in them, the big German block of manufacturers complained,” said Sir James.
“If German companies go on dominating European legislation, that’s a very good reason not to be in Europe. If they’re not going to listen to us, we shouldn’t be in there.”
Wal-Mart Stores, the 800-pound gorilla of retail, is running hard to catch up in an increasingly crucial segment where it is neither the biggest nor the best: e-commerce.
The company, founded in 1962 by Sam Walton, has been gobbling up smaller and niche players in e-commerce in an effort to reach online shopping market leader Amazon.
Whether those efforts are paying off will be a focal point when Wal-Mart Stores reports quarterly earnings on Thursday.
A bit more than half of all funds spent online in the United States now goes to Amazon, according to the bank Macquarie.
Part of Amazon’s success stems from its breadth of offerings, which includes the Kindle that people use for reading and the Prime service that broadcasts popular television shows, said Krista Fabregas, e-commerce staff writer at FitSmallBusiness.com.
“It’s because Amazon has been doing such a great job at injecting itself into our everyday life,” she told AFP.
“Wal-Mart is not part of everyday life, nor is Macy’s, nor is Gap, nor the other stores. We don’t have a connection with any of them throughout the day.”
Wal-Mart has been doing some shopping of its own, in an effort to make up ground against Amazon.
It spent $3.3 billion last year to buy Jet.com, which was started by e-commerce entrepreneur Marc Lore, whose previous company was sold to Amazon for $550 million.
Lore is now chief executive of Walmart eCommerce US, where he oversees 15,000 employees split between Silicon Valley, Boston, Omaha and Bentonville, Arkansas, where Wal-Mart is based.
His annual salary at $237 million is 10 times that of Wal-Mart chief executive Doug McMillon.
In less than five months, Lore has directed Wal-Mart to a number of acquisitions, including Shoebuy.com ($70 million), ModCloth ($45 million) and MooseJaw ($51 million).
Wal-Mart is also in talks to acquire the menswear chain Bonobos for $300 million, according to a person close to the matter.
Part of Wal-Mart’s objective is to become a go-to place online for “essential” products, such as toilet paper, beauty products, groceries and holiday gifts and children’s toys.
“We are focusing on the type of products that customers buy most,” said Wal-Mart spokesman Ravi Jariwala. “We want to make sure that we have the best prices, shipping to your home or offering a pickup discount.”
Wal-Mart in February scrapped a subscription delivery program that was a rival to Amazon Prime in favor of a guarantee of free two-day shipping for orders of more than $35.
Under the program customers can also pick up orders below $35 for free if they go to one of Wal-Mart’s 4,700 US stores.
These efforts may cut into Amazon’s lead in e-commerce, but overtaking Amazon appears unlikely anytime soon.
“They have invested heavily on channels. It will restore growth that was necessary for survival,” said Keith Anderson of e-commerce analytics firm Profitero.
“I don’t see anything that suggests that Wal-Mart would catch up to Amazon or beat Amazon, but it’s still very early,” he said.
The vigor of Wal-Mart’s online investments today contrasts with its initial reticence in e-commerce, which was due to worries that growth of online shopping would cut into sales at brick-and-mortar stores.
Wal-Mart also was slow to introduce platforms for individual vendors who sought a venue for goods and did not introduce such an online marketplace until 2015, much after Amazon.
Hannah Donoghue, director of advisory at Planet Retail RNG, said it is still relatively early in the game as far as e-commerce.
Amazon is “the strongest right now, they are far ahead but there are a lot of innovations underway,” Donoghue said. “I don’t think Amazon will be the only one. There will be another strong player.”
For now, Wall Street is giving the edge to Amazon, valuing the technology giant at $453 million, compared with Wal-Mart’s $230 million.
That’s in spite of Wal-Mart’s far greater overall revenues, which were $485.9 billion in 2016, more than 11 times those of Amazon.
Morrisons has been handed the unwanted accolade for "worst shop" by consumer watchdog Which?.
The grocer came last in a poll of 100 high street brands, scoring just 55 out of 100.
And the shock result, which comes in a survey of 10,000 shoppers, reveals WHSmith and Poundland came second and third from bottom respectively.
The survey found the supermarket’s non-food range was lacklustre and voters criticised its “limited” homeware and electrical products.
One disgruntled customer said: “It would be better if they had a little more variety."
Another added: “It would be good to see more of a range of household stuff."
Morrisons, which came joint 37th out of 100 last year with a satisfactory score of 66, said it was “baffled” by the news.
In a statement it said: “Another survey from Which? very recently found that customers thought we were the most improved supermarket in the UK.
“So we’re baffled by these results, which are based on a very small number of responses.”
At the top of the table, Richer Sounds and Toolstation scored 80 each, followed by John Lewis, Harvey Nichols and Waterstones which were all awarded 79.
Posh department store Harvey Nichols jumped from 21st last year to second place and Waterstones had a top five finish for the first time since 2014.
Which? editor Richard Headland said: “The best retailers, Richer Sounds and Toolstation, continue to strike the right balance by selling quality products at reasonable prices.
"It’s a simple formula, but that’s why they consistently score well with shoppers in the Which? survey.”
The top five stores based on customer satisfaction and overall shopping experience – according to the Which? survey – are:
- Richer Sounds (80%)
- Toolstation (80%)
- Harvey Nichols (79%)
- John Lewis (79%)
- Waterstones (79%)
Bosses at Lloyds’ annual general meeting (AGM) in Edinburgh confirmed the UK government’s stake in the Bank of Scotland owner now stands at 0.25 per cent, meaning the group’s return to full private ownership is “just days away”.
Chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio described the development as a “major milestone” in efforts to turn the banking group around from the “crisis” it faced a few years ago.
At its peak, Lloyds was 43 per cent owned by the state after the government spent £20.3 billion of taxpayers’ cash to bail it out at the height of the financial crisis. The AGM came just weeks after ministers announced they had recouped all of the £20.3bn ploughed in.
Addressing shareholders at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre, Horta-Osorio said: “2016 was also a significant year for the group as the UK government substantially reduced its shareholding.
“We are now just days away from a major milestone as the group returns to full private ownership. We take great pride in the fact that the government has already received more than its original investment of £20.3bn.
“With further proceeds to come as the sale is completed, this will ensure that the UK taxpayers get back at least £500 million more than was originally put in.”
The chief executive told the gathering the business has been turned around from the time when it acquired £200bn of “toxic assets” from its takeover of HBOS and had a “significant” payment protection insurance (PPI) problem.
“Looking at the group now, it is perhaps easy to lose sight of the fact that just six years ago this was a bank in crisis,” he said.
“Six years on we have turned the business around and we are now a strong, safe and UK-focused bank.”
Chairman Lord Blackwell told the AGM that 2016 was a notable year for Lloyds as it strengthened its capital position and accelerated the process of returning the group to private ownership.
“Everyone who works for the group is conscious of the enormous debt we owe to taxpayers for the financial support we received following the financial crisis and it is a source of pride that we have been able to restore the bank to financial health and repay the taxpayer for their support,” he said.
“We expect the final sale of the government’s remaining stake to be completed relatively soon and, as of this morning, I’m told they’re down to just 0.25 per cent ownership of the company’s shares.”
Lloyds last month announced that profits have doubled in the first three months of the year amid a “sweet spot” thanks to the economy’s resilience since the Brexit vote. The lender posted first-quarter pre-tax profits of £1.3bn, up from £654m a year earlier.
This came despite the bank being forced to set aside £350m to cover mis-sold PPI claims and £100m to cover compensation for victims of fraud by former HBOS staff.
During the AGM, Lloyds chiefs faced questions from shareholders about the handling of that fraud case. It came after a group of corrupt financiers were jailed for carrying out a £245m loans scam. The case dates back to the time before Lloyds took over the HBOS business.
Blackwell told the gathering he is “determined” the victims in that case are “fairly, swiftly and appropriately compensated” now that the trial has finished. He clarified that that meant within “weeks rather than months”.
The chairman said: “We remain committed to learning from our mistakes and following through our strategy to be the best bank for customers, shareholders and UK.”
He told one questioner: “You have our full sympathy for what you’ve been through and I’d like to express our regret and apologies for what happened in HBOS at that time.”
On Wednesday, Noel Edmonds launched a £50m compensation claim against Lloyds, with the Deal Or No Deal star claiming he has suffered “deep distress and public humiliation” caused by fraud at the hands of former HBOS Reading staff. Edmonds claims that a convicted former HBOS employee helped destroy his business Unique Group.
Following the AGM, his lawyer Jonathan Coad, from Keystone Law, said: “Lord Blackwell has said today at the Lloyds AGM that it is Lloyds’ intention that the victims of the HBOS frauds should receive their compensation ‘within weeks’. Lloyds has already appointed Professor Griggs to assess that compensation.
“My letter to Mr Horta-Osorio was sent some three weeks ago. But I am still waiting to hear from Professor Griggs or anyone in his office. So, at the moment the bank does not appear to be delivering on the promises that it is making to its shareholders and the general public.”
Ride-hailing app Uber may be a pioneer in its field but at heart it is an ordinary taxi company and should be regulated as such, a top EU lawyer said Thursday.
Uber claims it is a service provider, connecting riders with freelance drivers directly and much more cheaply than traditional cab companies.
It has run into huge opposition from critics and competitors who say this allows it to dodge costly regulation such as licensing requirements for drivers and vehicles.
In an opinion on a case brought by a taxi drivers association in the Spanish city of Barcelona, Advocate General Maciej Szpunar of the European Court of Justice said San Francisco-based Uber should be treated as a traditional taxi company.
"The Uber electronic platform, whilst innovative, falls within the field of transport," Szpunar said in an ECJ statement.
"Uber can thus be required to obtain the necessary licences and authorisations under national law," he said.
The ECJ's advocate generals are senior lawyers whose opinion the EU's top court very often follows when it comes to a final ruling.
Uber has had a rough ride in Spain, where a judged ruled in 2014 that its UberPop service risked breaking the law, leading to the Barcelona submission.
Early last year it decided to operate in Spain only a limited a version of its UberX service which uses licensed, professional drivers instead of amateurs.
The company does not employ drivers or own vehicles, but instead uses private contractors with their own cars, allowing them to run their own businesses.
Licensed taxis must undergo hundreds of hours of training and they accuse Uber of endangering their jobs by using cheaper drivers who only need a GPS to get around.
Szpunar said he believed that Uber could not be considered to be solely an information service which falls under a different regulatory regime.
Rather it was a composite service, providing both information electronically and then the all important means of transport.
"Uber cannot be regarded as a mere intermediary between drivers and passengers," Szpunar said.
"It is undoubtedly transport (namely the service not provided by electronic means) which is the main supply and which gives the service meaning in economic terms," he said.
Since the transport component is the main part of its offering, Uber "must be classified as a 'service in the field of transport.'"
On that basis, "it is thus subject to the conditions under which non-resident carriers may operate transport services within member states, (in this case, possession of the licences and authorisations required by the city of Barcelona regulations," Szpunar concluded.
The company, owned by Spain’s Telefónica, is to install 1400 so-called “small cells” across the city by the end of the year.
Unlike the old masts, small cells are the size of burglar alarms and can be fitted to lampposts and on the side of buildings.
It follows a deal with the City of London Corporation in March to fit the systems across the Square Mile.
O2’s chief operating officer Derek McManus said: “We understand the importance of digital connectivity in terms of driving the economy and ensuring that London can continue to compete on a global scale. This is why we’re investing in a range of innovative measures from small cells to macro masts.”
Most of London is covered by 4G, but industry experts expect 5G to become commercial within a few years. As well as better internet for consumers and businesses, 5G is expected to drive growth in artificial intelligence.
News of the investment came as the mobile operator revealed solid first-quarter results, with revenues up 2% to £1.38 billion. Underlying profits edged up 0.6% to £358 million in what chief executive Mark Evans called a “challenging market”.
Telefónica gave no indication today about whether it would press ahead with plans to offload O2 in a £10 billion stock market float, having shelved the idea last year. The plans could hinge on the outcome of the spectrum auction later this year.
Japan's second biggest carmaker had net profits of 663.5bn yen ($5.8bn; £4.5bn) in the year to the end of March.
But Nissan forecast profits would drop by about 20% this financial year, partly due to currency fluctuations.
Earlier this week rival Toyota reported a fall in annual profits for the first time in five years, and warned this year risked being tougher still.
The yen has been strengthening against the dollar and this tends to hurt Japanese carmakers as it reduces profits repatriated from overseas.
Globally, Nissan sold a total of 5.63 million vehicles across the year, with the biggest jump in sales being its 8.4% growth in China. Sales were up by 4.2% in the US while sales in Europe excluding Russia were up by 7.2%.
The new financial year at Nissan also marks a new era of leadership, with Carlos Ghosn stepping down as chief executive but remaining as chairman.
Hiroto Saikawa, who was the company's co-chief executive, now has the top job.
Mr Saikawa joined Nissan in 1977, and since 1999 has served in a number of senior management positions, including overseeing operations in the Americas and Europe.
A company that made almost 100m nuisance calls in 18 months has been fined a record £400,000 by the data watchdog.
The information commissioner’s office said the automated calls by Keurboom Communications had caused “upset and distress” and led to more than 1,000 complaints.
Keurboom, registered in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, has been placed in voluntary liquidation and the ICO intends to recover the fine through liquidators and insolvency practitioners.
The ICO was unable to fine the company’s director, Gregory Rudd, but the government is set to introduce a law allowing the watchdog to fine the bosses of nuisance call firms.
The calls from Keurboom related to schemes including road traffic accident claims and PPI compensation. Some people received repeat calls, sometimes on the same day, and calls during unsociable hours. The company hid its identity, making it harder for people to complain.
Companies can make automated marketing calls to people only if they have their specific consent. Keurboom did not have consent.
Steve Eckerlsey, head of enforcement at the ICO, said: “Keurboom showed scant regard for the rules, causing upset and distress to people unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end of one its 100 million calls.
“The unprecedented scale of its campaign and Keurboom’s failure to cooperate with our investigation has resulted in the largest fine issued by the information commissioner for nuisance calls.”
He added: “These calls have now stopped – as has Keurboom – but our work has not. We’ll continue to track down companies that blight people’s lives with nuisance calls, texts and emails.”
During the investigation, the ICO issued seven information notices ordering the company to provide information. When it failed to comply, Keurboom and Rudd were prosecuted and fined £1,500 and £1,000 respectively at Luton magistrates court in April 2016.
In 2016/17 the ICO fined 23 companies a total of £1.9m for nuisance marketing.
The previous record nuisance call fine was in February 2016 when the ICO fined Prodial, a lead generation company, £350,000 for making 46m nuisance calls.
In September 2016 the ICO fined TalkTalk £400,000 under the Data Protection Act for failing to prevent an attack on its systems.
The brothers are two of four siblings who took control of their family's huge business empire, the Hinduja Group.
Globally, the business belongs to all four brothers - Srichand, Gopichand, Prakash and Ashok, with Sri, 81, and Gopi, 77, mainly managing UK interests.
The brothers first made to the top of the Sunday Times Rich List in 2014, when their wealth stood at £11.9 billion.
Their multinational business is the brainchild of their, Parmanand Deepchand Hinduj, who originally traded goods in the Sindh region of India.
He moved the business headquarters to Iran in 1919, before his sons moved the base to London in 1979.
Shortly before their father died in 1971, the brothers claim he told them to "advance fearlessly".
The sons expanded the business globally, with investments in everything from trucking to banking, IT and media.
Sri and Gopi's latest business quest in London involves the £350 million development of the Old War Office - Winston Churchill's base during World War Two.
The historic building will be transformed into a stunning five star hotel, complete with a ballroom for 600 guests, an 82ft swimming pool, a spa, two wine cellars, a rooftop bar and 88 apartments - each with five bedrooms.
Hinduja Group acquired one of its largest enterprises in 1984 when they bought Gulf Oil.
In the past year, the investment value of that purchase has increased by £870 million.
The group also acquired Ashok Leyland in 1987 - now India's biggest vehicle manufactuer.
Their main British company, Hinduja Automotives is chaired by Gopi and turned over £2 billion between 2016-2016.
While they may head up the rich list for the phenomenal wealth, Gopi recently said: "If you consider one to be rich because of his money, you are wrong.
"I consider someone to be rich if he has good friends, good contacts, good relationships."
Online takeaway ordering firm Just Eat faces a potential full-blown investigation into its takeover of rival Hungryhouse amid concerns the deal could curb competition.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said its initial probe into the acquisition - worth up to £240 million - found the two firms were close competitors because of the service they offer and their reach across the UK.
It said other rivals offering delivery services, such as Deliveroo, UberEATS and Amazon Restaurants, provided little direct competition because they target different types of restaurant and did not have the same scale of service.
"The CMA is therefore concerned that the loss of competition resulting from the Just Eat/Hungryhouse merger may result in worse terms for restaurants using either of the two companies," the CMA said.
It will now refer the deal to an in-depth competition investigation, unless J ust Eat can address the concerns.
Just Eat has until May 17 to put forward proposals.
The CMA also said on Wednesday it was poised to refer Capita's takeover of Vodafone's paging services business for a full-scale inquiry, unless the two companies can address competition concerns.
It said the acquisition, announced in February, could lead to a "substantial lessening of competition" and see customers face price hikes for paging services and reduce quality of coverage.
Just Eat said it "looks forward to co-operating with the CMA and is committed to demonstrating to the CMA that the market is, and will remain, competitive following completion of the proposed transaction".
The group announced its takeover of Hungryhouse last December.
Both firms offer online takeaway ordering services, which allow restaurants to offer customers the convenience of choosing from a large range of takeaway providers in one place.
The likes of Deliveroo and UberEATS, which entered the market more recently, tend to offer a takeaway service to dine-in restaurants without their own delivery capability.
Just Eat agreed to pay £200 million to Delivery Hero for Hungryhouse and will shell out another £40 million, depending on performance.
The deal came as part of an acquisition spree by Just Eat as it looks to expand, with the group also announcing the acquisition of Canadian firm SkipTheDishes alongside the Hungryhouse takeover.
London-based Just Eat has more than 16.6 million customers and offers deliveries from 63,900 takeaway restaurants in more than 10 countries.
It said earlier this month that sales rose 46% to £118.9 million in the three months to March 31, with UK orders rising 17% to 24 million.
But the firm is experiencing management upheaval, with chief executive David Buttress forced to step down in February due to ''urgent family matters'' and chairman and interim boss John Hughes also taking a leave of absence in order to undergo treatment for a medical condition.
