The Times - UK (2022-04-04)

the times | Monday April 4 2022 33

Business

poor company performance and a lack
of disclosure of goals, the annual bonus
paid out at maximum”.
Carnival is listed in New York and in
London, where Carnival plc is a
member of the FTSE 250. It suspended
dividends in 2020 after the pandemic
caused a collapse in its share price. Last
year it reported a net loss of $9.5 billion.
ISS said that Carnival also had
changed its equity awards so that they
were “now entirely in time-vested
equity”. Glass Lewis and the Invest-
ment Association also have raised con-
cerns, The Sunday Times reported.
A Carnival spokesman insisted that
the figures in its market filings “do not
represent what our CEO actually
received in any given year”, saying that
grants declared in 2021 would not pay
out for two years and “can be reduced or
forfeited altogether based on company
performance and results”.
He said that Donald’s “realised com-
pensation” in 2021 came to $4.1 million,
down from $10.5 million in 2020 and
from $14.9 million in 2019.
“Annually, by design, 87 per cent of
Arnold Donald’s annual compensation
is ‘at-risk’, aligned with the company’s
performance and shareholder return.”

Joint bosses check into hotel

company that owns Claridge’s

Jessica Newman

The company behind some of London’s

top luxury hotels has appointed joint

chief executives as part of a shake-up.

Maybourne, which owns Claridge’s,

The Connaught and The Berkeley in

London, has named Marc Socker and

Gianluca Muzzi as joint-chief execu-

tives with immediate effect.

The hotels group has been run by

Paddy McKillen, the Irish property

tycoon, through a management con-

tract and that continues until the end of

the year.

McKillen, 66, fought a multimillion-

pound legal battle for control of the

hotels with the Barclay brothers, the

media, retail and property tycoons.

That ended in 2015 when the Qatar-

owned Constellation Hotels bought

control of Maybourne and retained

McKillen as an adviser.

In a message to Maybourne staff, the

directors of the company said: “This

change reflects the beginning of a new

strategic direction for Maybourne,

where the company will focus on the

creation of a global ultra-luxury brand

while continuing to enhance the

quality of each individual asset.

“We believe that, with the correct

strategic approach and support, you,

our talented team, and our increasing

group of prestige properties, May-

bourne will become globally renowned

for providing the most exciting, tailor-

made and unforgettable experiences to

our guests. We are truly excited by this

shared future mission.”

Socker, 45, has worked in hotel fund

management for the past 15 years, while

Muzzi, 52, has worked in property

investment banking, with stints at

Deutsche Bank and DWS Group.

Socker and Muzzi were appointed

directors at Maybourne, which also

owns the The Maybourne Beverly Hills,

in November, according to Companies

House filings.

The week ahead

tomorrow

All the big bookmakers have, to

varying degrees, sought to reinvent

themselves as purveyors of

entertainment to the masses. With

regulators cracking down on

gambling — Britain, for example, is

in the final throes of a review —

operators are rewriting their safer

gambling manuals and are trying to

distance themselves from some of

the nefarious activities of yore.

To reinforce the change, in 2020

GVC Holdings changed its name to

Entain and increasingly is

eschewing big-ticket punters and

aiming at those who like a modest

flutter for fun. Under Jette Nygaard-

Andersen, its chief executive, Entain

has also expanded its technology

arsenal to bring innovation to bear

on its customer base.

What Entain is investing in bears

little relation to its Ladbrokes and

Coral betting shops on the high

street — and sometimes very little

to gambling. Think esports and

immersive experiences.

Not that Entain is abandoning

gambling, as its first-quarter trading

update will show. Its challenges will

be in evidence as the group reports

tough trading compared with last

year’s strong lockdown trading and

a fall in European revenues because

of regulatory moves. Investec is

forecasting a high-single-digit to

double-digit fall in digital revenues,

with better performances from retail

and the American business.

Jette Nygaard-Andersen, 53, has

boosted Entain’s technology arsenal

A pre-close update

from HomeServe is

expected to trail a

rebound in profits,

before the publication

of the the emergency

home repairs group’s

full-year results in

May. Analysts have

forecast a pre-tax

profit of £177 million,

up from £47.2 million

the year before, when

the decision to write

off the value of its UK

customer relationship

management system

punched a hole in the

bottom line. Trading

figures could be

overshadowed by any

update on whether

takeover interest from

Brookfield, the

Canadian property

fund, has translated

into a formal approach.

Finals DP Eurasia,

Next Fifteen

Communications,

Property Franchise

Group, Quixant,

SourceBio

International

Trading updates

HomeServe, Moonpig

thursday

wednesday

friday

Despite a growing consumer trend

towards veganism, Hilton Food

Group is expected to report healthy

annual results. The FTSE 250

meat producer started out

as a supplier for Tesco

and still produces

2.75 million packets of

beef and lamb in the

UK, but it has since

diversified to 13

markets and has

5,400 staff globally.

Despite

uncertainties during

the pandemic, Hilton

has remained bullish

about acquisitions,

snapping up stakes in Dalco,

Fairfax Meadow and Agito that

analysts have credited with

expanding into new markets and

products, such as smoked salmon. In

January the business issued a robust

trading statement after a double-

digit sales increase in Australia and

flat growth in Europe.

Hilton has faced tough

comparisons with 2020,

when sales boomed

because more meals

were eaten at home

during lockdown.

Analysts expect an

18 per cent rise in

sales from

£2.77 billion a year

ago to £3.23 billion,

while adjusted profits

are set to show a

marginal improvement

from £61 million to

£64.5 million.

Interims Applied Graphene

Materials

Finals Epwin, Hilton Food

Trading updates Hyve, Imperial

Brands, Topps Tiles

Shareholders in CMC Markets, the

financial bets company, will be

looking out for any update on plans

to break up the business, as well as a

start date for its planned UK share

trading platform. Lord Cruddas,

founder and chief executive, has

previously stated his preference to

separate the leveraged City bets

business from the fast-growing and

more highly rated broking business.

He has signalled previously net

operating profits for the year to

March of £250 million to

£280 million. CMC shares have been

given a fillip by the recent volatility

in oil and commodity prices, which

usually spurs City wagers.

Trading updates CMC Markets,

Ferrexpo, Foresight

After a year of sustained upgrades,

it is difficult to judge if Robert

Walters can keep up momentum.

Investors will wonder if the recruiter

will be able to match last year’s

performance, with operating profit

at a record level of £54 million as it

benefited from companies growing

more confident about long-term

hiring. Robert Walters, the group’s

boss, has said that while the jobs

market is strong and wage inflation

on the rise, the company is very

aware of the present political and

macroeconomic uncertainties.

Interims Tracsis

Finals Attraqt

Trading updates Entain, Polar

Capital Global Financials Trust,

Robert Walters

compariso

when s

beca

we

du

A

1

s

£

ag

wh

are

margi

ffrom £6 1

£64. 5 million.

Ii

d out

o

f

Dalco,

Ai h Alid

Khatri and his colleagues are trying to
move the dial on either side, inviting
British companies on trade missions
and presenting American investors
with pitch decks that bang the drum for
specific regions throughout the UK.
“We could be speaking to a US inves-
tor in X industry, ” he said. “They could
be going to the southeast and, you
know, that’s a bit rinse, repeat. Just go
and do it. But actually, if there’s an inter-

est in getting them to other parts of the

UK, that’s where we step in.

“Most US investors know the south-

east and London very well. They don’t

know Newcastle, Leeds, Manchester,

Glasgow, Cardiff, as well. It’s our job to

try to educate.”

Catching the attention of the biggest

players, with the deepest pockets, is no

mean feat in a market with 50 states to

consider before they even look over-

seas. The UK government, like some of

the businesses it tries to assist, can find

it challenging to “cut through”.

Once their attention had been cap-

tured, however, Khatri claimed inves-

tors were “really struck” by “how

aggressive we are being” to attract their

capital. “We’re not being passive, just

building on the fact that we are one of

the most heavily invested economies in

the world. It is a global competition.”

beyond Big Apple

to other areas of America, such as Austin, Texas, bottom right, that are having new life breathed into them by staff relocating

GETTY IMAGES; ALAMY