by Paul Donovan
Vodafone investors rebel over CEO pay
All the papers
carry details of a new Vodafone share scheme and a rebellion by
institutional investors over the remuneration of the chief
executive. The Guardian leads with the demands from the Association
of British Insurers, which owns 25% of the company, for changes
after it was revealed that chief executive Chris Gent had received
a further eight million shares. The new scheme announced will grant
238 million shares to 42,000 employees, according to the Financial
Times.
Slowdown in chip sales accelerates
The Financial Times
reports details from the Semiconductor Industry Association,
indicating that global sales fell by 20% during May compared to the
same month in 2000. The figures show the Americas, Europe, Japan
and Asia all recording double-digit decline. In the preceding month
Asia had shown some growth.
Riversoft warns of downturn in demand
The Financial
Times and Daily Telegraph report a warning from Riversoft, the
network management software group, regarding "a sudden and severe
deterioration" in the completion of orders leading to worse than
expected second quarter figures. The company reported nervousness
among customers over economic conditions in the telecom and
investment banking sectors.
Venture fund to back young software companies
The
Financial Times reports that a group of Scottish technology
entrepreneurs has launched a venture capital fund to back young
software companies. The fund, Pentech Ventures, has attracted
investment from Brian Souter, co-founder of Stagecoach, and Tom
Hunter, the retail entrepreneur.
Best of the rest
The Financial Times reports:
Metricom, the provider of
Ricochet, the US high-speed Internet service, is seeking Chapter 11
protection from its creditors.
France Telecom is one of six companies showing an interest in
obtaining a controlling stake in Nitel, Nigeria's state owned
telecommunications company.
The Independent reports:
Valentia Telecommunications
has won the battle for Ireland's biggest phone company Eircomm with
a £1.7bn bid.
Austrian insurer AMP is close to securing the takeover of
Interactive Investor, an operator of financial Web sites.