Friday newspaper round-up: Burberry, Hedge funds, Scottish independence...
Only six weeks after a revolt by investors over excessive pay at Burberry, its boss has boosted his bank balance by cashing in £5.2 million of shares. Christopher Bailey, a design expert elevated to the top job at the fashion house in May, exercised share awards worth £4.2 million that vested under a bonus scheme dating back to his earlier role as chief creative officer. He also offloaded a slice of his personal shareholding in the business for £1 million. - The TImes
Hedge fund executives in London saw bonuses plummet last year, resulting in their pay packets being less than half of what they were 12 months ago. The average bonus paid to a partner or a managing director of a London-based hedge fund stood at £1,236,000 in 2012/13 but this has fallen to £459,000 in 2013/14. Coupled with a decline in base salaries, total compensation packages are down almost £1m to £660,000. - The Guardian
The chairman of HSBC has warned that Scottish independence could prompt "capital flight" from the country and leave its financial system in a "parlous state". Douglas Flint is the most senior business leader to voice concerns about independence - providing a boost to the pro-union No campaign ahead of the referendum on September 18. - The Telegraph
Landlords have been warned to check the terms they get from their letting agent after research showed the difference between the cheapest and most expensive agents can be equivalent to more than 10 per cent of rental returns. Tricks including double-charging tenants and landlords for the same service and charging hundreds of pounds for contracts where only the date had changes were also revealed in the research by insurer Direct Line for Business. - The Daily Mail
The boss of one of the UK's biggest energy companies has blamed Labour's threatened price freeze for his group's failure to cut bills, despite the recent slump in wholesale gas prices. Paul Massara, chief executive of npower, [...] said that cutting bills would be too risky because the supplier would be unable to raise them again in response to rising costs if Labour won the election next May and implemented its promised 20-month price freeze. - The TImes
The number of young people who were not in education, employment or training (Neet) fell in the second quarter, in the latest positive news for the labour market. There were 955,000 Neets aged 16-to-24 in the UK in the period between April and June according to the Office for National Statistics, down by 20,000 compared with January and March, and 138,000 lower than a year earlier. - The Guardian
Housebuilder Miller Group has unveiled a doubling in half-year profits as the privately-owned firm continues to mull a possible stock market flotation. The company, which last month sold its commercial construction division to listed rival Galliford Try, said tougher mortgage lending rules had not affected trading at its housing arm, where underlying profits almost trebled. - The Scotsman
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