Charlie Nunn: in line for £9.1m pay packet

Lloyds Banking Group faces a possible backlash to plans to pay its chief executive Charlie Nunn up to £9.1 million despite reporting flat profits.

A new pay policy will be put to shareholders at its AGM in Glasgow on Thursday.

Mr Nunn’s potential pay packet tops the £8.3m that his predecessor, António Horta-Osório, could have achieved under the last pay policy approved by shareholders in 2020.

Chief Financial Officer William Chalmers is in line for a maximum pay rise to £6.3m from £4.7m, thanks in part to a rise in his potential bonus, which could now be worth 140% of his salary, up from 100%.

Both estimates are based on Lloyds’ share price rising 50%.

The week kicks off with the Scottish Affairs Committee in the House of Commons examining the role of the Edinburgh Festivals in boosting Scotland’s profile overseas, in the fourth evidence session of its inquiry on Promoting Scotland Internationally.

BT unveils full year results on Thursday on the back of a 40% rise in the shares since January. However, AJ Bell notes that they are still down by around a tenth over the past year and are trading no higher now than they did in 1985, in the first year of the firm’s privatisation under the Thatcher government.

Bid speculation, thanks in part to the 18% stake in BT held by French telecoms magnate Patrick Drahi and merger and acquisition activity in the global telecoms industry, could be behind the recent surge.

The company also clinched BT Sport’s merger with Discovery’s Eurosport UK. Higher interest rates and bond yields have also helped to reduce the pension deficit.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will attend the Council of Europe Summit in Iceland on Tuesday, where he will press the case for tackling illegal migration before heading to Toyko and then joining G7 leaders in Hiroshima.

US president Joe Biden is expected to be in Japan despite growing concern over the US debt ceiling that could result in the Treasury running out of money if it is not resolved in the coming weeks.

Mr Biden said on Saturday that talks with Congress on raising the debt limit were moving along and more will be known about their progress in the next two days.

DIARY

Monday 15 May

 *   Trading update from Currys

Tuesday 16 May

 *   Full-year results from Vodafone, DCC and boohoo
 *   First-half results from On The Beach, Marston’s and Britvic
 *   Trading statement from Greggs
 *   UK unemployment and wage growth

Wednesday 17 May

 *   Full-year results from Experian and British Land
 *   First-half results from Sage and Mitchells & Butlers*   EU inflation

Thursday 18 May

 *   Full-year results from Burberry, National Grid, Premier Foods and Future
 *   First-half results from easyJet
* AGM: Lloyds Banking Group

Friday 19 May

 *  Trading update from Smiths Group