Daily Mail - 07.08.2019

(Barré) #1

Daily Mail, Wednesday, August 7, 2019


Bitcoin bets


targeted by


the taxman


THOUSANDS of punters who prof-
ited from the boom in bitcoin may
be stung with a surprise tax bill.
Tax collector HMRC is reportedly
pressuring trading websites for
digital currencies for information
about customers and their
transactions.
The authority, chasing unpaid
charges, is understood to have
written to exchanges, including
Coinbase and Etoro, to try to find
bitcoin winners who owe money.
The currency surged to almost
$20,000 in 2018, before dropping
sharply. Such exchanges and dig-
ital currencies, including bitcoin
traded on them, are not regu-
lated in the UK but users may have
to pay capital gains tax, which is
charged on profits made from the
sale of assets. There is a tax-free
allowance of £12,000 for these.
HMRC is said to be interested in
people who have been buying and
selling crypto-currencies, amid
concerns they are not reporting
tax liabilities properly. It refused
to respond to a freedom of infor-
mation request about its inquir-
ies, but said: ‘These transactions
may result in potential tax charges
and HMRC has the power to issue
notices requiring exchanges to
provide this information.’

Eight blue-chips top


pay shame league


by Tom Witherow


Micro Focus

Segro

Standard Life Aberdeen

JD Sports

Barclays

Ocado

Kingfisher

Aveva

Kevin Loosemore

David Sleath

Keith Skeoch

Peter Cowgill

Jes Staley

Tim Steiner

Veronique Laury, left

Craig Hayman

THE FTSE 100 OFFENDERS


Company Boss

£3.1m

£3.6m

£1.1m

£2.6m

£3.4m

£3.1m

£1.8m

£7.3m

Pay
last year

50.3pc

46.7pc

42pc

30.5pc

29.2pc

25.4pc

24.2pc

21pc

Shareholder
revolt

A STAKE in Taylor Swift’s record
label Universal Music Group is
being bought by the Chinese in a
£2.8bn deal.
The tie-up will see 10pc of UMG
bought by Shenzhen-based tech
company Tencent, with the rest
retained by French firm Vivendi.
As well as Swift (pictured), who
has sold more than 50m albums,
UMG’s stable also includes hit art-
ists Drake and Lady Gaga.
UMG is the world’s biggest music
label, ahead of Sony and Warner
Music. Tencent is the world’s larg-
est gaming company and China’s
second-biggest tech company.
The deal values UMG at £27.6bn.
Tencent has an option to buy a
further 10pc of UMG and the sale
will boost UMG’s presence in the
tightly controlled Chinese market,
where it wants to expand.
It comes as Vivendi seeks to cash
in on the thirst for subscription
and advert-based music stream-
ing services such as Spotify.

ALMOST £1bn was wiped off the value of Rolls-
Royce after it warned it faces £100m in extra costs
related to its troubled flagship jet engine.
The British engineer’s Trent 1,000 programme
has been beset by problems, forcing airlines to
ground planes while repairs are made.
Rolls said the debacle will cost it up to £500m
this year, more than expected. That sent shares
down 6.9pc and knocked £995m off the business’s
value.
Trent will cost a further £50m to £100m in 2020,
with the total cost now set to reach around £1.6bn,
chief executive Warren East said.
Used in Boeing 787 Dreamliners, the engines’
issues with compressors and turbine blades have
left them with a shorter-than-expected shelf life –
forcing Rolls to dole out compensation.
Overall, it has caused hundreds of planes to be
grounded.
The blow came as the company revealed reve-
nues of £7.4bn in the first half of 2019, up from
£7bn a year earlier.
Rolls said it is on track to generate £700m in
cash this year, and £1bn in 2020.


Rolls reels from


more engine woe


A PAYMENTS firm backed by rapper Snoop Dogg
has become Europe’s most valuable privately-
owned financial tech business.
Klarna is valued at £4.5bn after raising £379m
from investors. The Swedish business works with
retailers such as Asos and Michael Kors to allow
customers who cannot afford products they
purchase to ‘buy now, pay later’.
Buyers can pay via Klarna, which will pay the
retailer and take the money from the buyer’s
bank account in 30 days, or in monthly instal-
ments. But it has been criticised for encourag-
ing millennials to take on debt.
Its marketing is targeted at younger shoppers,
and earlier this year it launched a so-called pop-
up shop in London’s Covent Garden featuring
brands such as Finery, Schuh and Swoon.
Klarna, which is used by 60m people, wants to
grow further in the US. The latest funding round
was led by San Francisco-based investor Drag-
oneer Investment Group, and the Common-
wealth Bank of Australia also contributed.

Snoop Dogg’s firm


is valued at £4. 5bn


TENCENT BUYS STAKE IN UNIVERSAL


EIGHT blue-chip firms have
earned a place on an official
list of shame after suffering
shareholder revolts on execu-
tive pay.
Companies in the FTSE 100 to
have suffered a bloody nose
include a DIY chain, a bank and a
tech firm, in a damning indict-
ment of how widespread corpo-
rate excess has become.
And it reveals growing pressure
from investors after years of fury
over the massive sums on offer.
Former prime minister Theresa
May introduced a register of the
worst offenders on executive pay,
maintained by The Investment
Association trade body. It lists
firms where 20pc or more share-
holders oppose bosses’ earnings
at their annual meeting.
This year’s biggest offender was
tech company Micro Focus,
where half its investors voted
down its pay deal.
It gave top bosses an extra year
to hit targets, allowing them to
share in a £286m bonus bonanza
when a botched takeover caused
the share price to slide. Investors


judged that the move was a ruse
to allow directors – including
executive chairman Kevin Loose-
more, who has been paid £27.9m
since 2011 – to cash in.
Savings and investment firm
Standard Life and warehouse
company Segro each suffered
revolts of more than 40pc.
At Ocado, a quarter of share-
holders voted against boss Tim
Steiner’s bonus of up to £100m
over five years, which he will

receive if the share price triples.
JD Sports had a pay revolt of
over 30pc as shareholders voiced
their fury at Peter Cowgill’s £2.6m
package. Others hit by rebellions
include Barclays, where boss Jes
Staley suffered a 29.2pc vote
against due to sky-high contribu-
tions towards his pension.
At DIY chain Kingfisher, Vero-
nique Laury – who is set to leave
the business – was hit by a 24.2pc
opposition vote. And IT firm Ave-

va’s boss Craig Hayman endured
a 21pc revolt over his £7.3m pay.
Luke Hildyard, of the High Pay
Centre, said: ‘Even investors are
now losing patience with the
vastly disproportionate pay-
ments. Boards should heed this
warning from shareholders.’
Nick Dawson, of shareholder
advice firm Proxy Insight, said:
‘While many public companies
have heeded the warning from
investors on pay there are clearly
others who are underestimating
shareholder sentiment.’
The number of FTSE 100 com-
panies facing revolts of more than
20pc has doubled in the past five
years, data from Proxy Insight
showed, despite average pay
packets for the bosses of Britain’s
biggest firms falling to £4.6m last
year, from £5.7m in 2017.
Shareholders have been urged
by politicians and campaigners
to be more assertive on pay, say-
ing massive bonanzas undermine
companies’ public image and
trust in business.
Across the FTSE all-share index
of around 600 companies, 40 firms
experienced pay revolts of more
than 20pc this year to date. In
2018 the number was 47.

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