Wednesday newspaper round-up: Persimmon, Google, Shell
Persimmon, the housebuilder that paid its chief executive a £75m bonus in 2018, has been accused of shoddily building homes that left its customers exposed to an “intolerable risk” in the event of fire. An independent review of the company published on Tuesday found Persimmon had a “systemic nationwide failure” to install fire-stopping cavity barriers. Persimmon has been at the centre of political and public anger over the poor quality of its homes and the vast bonus paid to its former boss Jeff Fairburn. - Guardian
Google fired another employee activist on Friday, the fifth termination of an employee engaged in workplace organizing in less than a month. Kathryn Spiers, a 21-year-old security engineer who had worked for Google since February 2018, was suspended from work on 25 November – the same day that four other worker activists were fired for what the company described as “intentional and often repeated violations of our longstanding data security policies”. – Guardian
Royal Dutch Shell has revealed that it paid no corporate income tax in the UK in 2018 despite raking in $731m (£557m) of pre-tax profit on revenues of $108bn in the country. The new report, published on Tuesday, is the first time the oil and gas titan has released public details of the corporate income tax paid in countries and locations across all its businesses. - Telegraph
A government-backed review has called for the creation of an independent audit profession with a redefined purpose to increase confidence in business and prevent unnecessary corporate failures. Sir Donald Brydon, the City grandee appointed in January to review the quality and effectiveness of audit, has recommended sweeping changes for the sector, including strengthened standards for auditors, more responsibilities for company directors and additional powers for shareholders and stakeholders to influence audit. – The Times
Hedge funds that shorted Tesla are sitting on losses of $575 million after shares in the electric carmaker touched their highest level in more than a year.
Upbeat commentary from one of Wall Street’s biggest sceptics on Tesla’s future sent shares in the Californian company soaring at the start of the week. Dan Levy, an analyst at Credit Suisse, said the company is “leading in the areas that will likely define the future of carmaking — software and electrification”. – The Times