Hibu plc (LON:HIBU), the owner of Yellow Pages, has paid bonuses two months early to 2,500 staff even though the debt-laden company missed payments on £2bn-worth of loans in February and March and breached bank covenants.
The bonuses were agreed at the start of this month, almost immediately after Hibu's financial year ended on 31 March. Bonuses were previously paid in June. Shareholders have seen the value of Hibu crash from £1bn to £9m as sales slumped because of the rise of the internet.
The ailing company warned earlier this year that it would not make an interest payment of £49m, due in February, and a £25m payment due, last month. Its lenders, which include Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays, are set to take control in a debt-for-equity swap but a deal has taken months, and is not expected now until the summer, the Independent reports.
Lloyds Banking Group
According to The Telegraph, Lloyds had asked European regulators about a possible extension to the deadline to dispose of its 632 branches, known as Project Verde, before the Co-op walked away from the deal to buy the network.
JPMorgan Chase
"Leading European companies have accused JPMorgan Chase and other US banks of putting their own interests ahead of their clients in a spat over tough new bank capital rules for derivatives sold privately off exchanges," says the Financial Times.
EE
Network provider EE, which already has 400,000 customers, has said that 4G has started to threaten unreliable wi-fi services, reports The Guardian. The paper says that analysts expect EE to have 1.6m customers by the end of the year.
Premier Foods
The Guardian says: "Premier Foods, the firm behind Bisto, Hovis and Mr Kipling, is sitting on a pensions timebomb that risks wiping up to a quarter off the value of retirement savings of 60,000 past and present workers if the debt-laden food manufacturer were to slip into insolvency, according to a leading pensions expert."
Nevertheless, the company has stressed that bankruptcy remains highly unlikely.
Thorntons
The Independent says that sales growth of Thorntons chocolates to the big supermarkets overtook those in its own High Street stores for the first time during its third quarter, which included Valentine's Day, Mothers' Day and Easter. The company said yesterday that it now expects full-year profits to beat current City forecasts.
Workplace pensions
MPs have called for a new body to regulate workplace pensions, saying that "existing problems will be worsened by the fact that there are now three regulators overseeing the industry," writes The Independent.
EU austerity
Speaking on his first day as Italian Prime Minister, Enrico Letta sent a strong message to Brussels and Berlin that a change of direction was necessary, writes the Financial Times. "Europe’s policy of austerity is no longer sufficient," he said.
Source: http://www.smeweb.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4192:yellow-pages-owner-hibu-skips-loan-payments-but-pays-bonuses-to-2500-staff&catid=53:news&Itemid=89
Note:
The bonuses were agreed at the start of this month, almost immediately after Hibu's financial year ended on 31 March. Bonuses were previously paid in June. Shareholders have seen the value of Hibu crash from £1bn to £9m as sales slumped because of the rise of the internet.
The ailing company warned earlier this year that it would not make an interest payment of £49m, due in February, and a £25m payment due, last month. Its lenders, which include Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays, are set to take control in a debt-for-equity swap but a deal has taken months, and is not expected now until the summer, the Independent reports.
Lloyds Banking Group
According to The Telegraph, Lloyds had asked European regulators about a possible extension to the deadline to dispose of its 632 branches, known as Project Verde, before the Co-op walked away from the deal to buy the network.
JPMorgan Chase
"Leading European companies have accused JPMorgan Chase and other US banks of putting their own interests ahead of their clients in a spat over tough new bank capital rules for derivatives sold privately off exchanges," says the Financial Times.
EE
Network provider EE, which already has 400,000 customers, has said that 4G has started to threaten unreliable wi-fi services, reports The Guardian. The paper says that analysts expect EE to have 1.6m customers by the end of the year.
Premier Foods
The Guardian says: "Premier Foods, the firm behind Bisto, Hovis and Mr Kipling, is sitting on a pensions timebomb that risks wiping up to a quarter off the value of retirement savings of 60,000 past and present workers if the debt-laden food manufacturer were to slip into insolvency, according to a leading pensions expert."
Nevertheless, the company has stressed that bankruptcy remains highly unlikely.
Thorntons
The Independent says that sales growth of Thorntons chocolates to the big supermarkets overtook those in its own High Street stores for the first time during its third quarter, which included Valentine's Day, Mothers' Day and Easter. The company said yesterday that it now expects full-year profits to beat current City forecasts.
Workplace pensions
MPs have called for a new body to regulate workplace pensions, saying that "existing problems will be worsened by the fact that there are now three regulators overseeing the industry," writes The Independent.
EU austerity
Speaking on his first day as Italian Prime Minister, Enrico Letta sent a strong message to Brussels and Berlin that a change of direction was necessary, writes the Financial Times. "Europe’s policy of austerity is no longer sufficient," he said.
Source: http://www.smeweb.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4192:yellow-pages-owner-hibu-skips-loan-payments-but-pays-bonuses-to-2500-staff&catid=53:news&Itemid=89
Note:
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