Business
Frasers lowers goal for new bonus plan after boss misses £100m payout target
Frasers boss Michael Murray will miss targets to secure a £100 million bonus this year, but the firm has revealed plans for a new scheme with a lowered share price goal that could still see him net the mammoth payout by 2030.
Mr Murray, who succeeded his father-in-law Mike Ashley at the helm in 2022, has waived his salary for three years in a row in order to focus on meeting targets for the potential £100 million award.
The bonus is conditional on the group achieving a pre-tax profit of at least £500 million and a £15 share price for 30 consecutive dealing days.
The two conditions have to be met before October for Mr Murray to receive the mammoth payout under the current scheme.
While the group has met the earnings goal, delivering underlying pre-tax profits of £560.2 million for the year to April 27, it cannot meet the shares target by October, with Frasers stock at around £6.80 at the time of writing.
But ahead of its annual general meeting next month, the Sports Direct owner revealed proposals for a new five-year bonus scheme with a lowered share price target – from £15 to £12 – which could still see its chief executive secure a £100 million payout.
Under the new plans, Mr Murray must meet the shares target by September 30 2030.
It is also conditional on the group achieving an underlying pre-tax profit of at least £500 million, with all other aspects of the scheme remaining the same.
Mr Murray will also forgo the salary for the current 2025-26 financial year, according to Frasers’s latest annual report.
On the decision to amend the shares target for the next five years, Frasers said: “The committee views this as an appropriate share price target for all executive share scheme awards (including those for the chief executive) in the current macroeconomic and political environment which is challenging for all businesses in the UK and also internationally.”
It pointed out that £12 was still above the highest share price reached for Frasers in the past five years, which was £9.49.
Shareholders will vote on the plans at the group’s AGM on September 24.
Details of the new bonus plans came as Frasers announced that the former head of Britain’s audit watchdog will join the firm as chairman from next month.
Sir Jon Thompson will succeed David Daly, who steps down after eight years in the role.
Frasers appointed ex-Financial Reporting Council (FRC) boss Sir Jon to the board as a non-executive director in June and was widely reported to be lining him up to take over from Mr Daly this year.
Sir Jon will take on the role on September 1, with Mr Daly stepping down from the board at the firm’s AGM.
The group also announced the expected appointment to the board of Andy Lyon, a former partner at accountancy giant PwC, who acted as audit partner for Next and its credit business.
It said it was also set to appoint a second “well-advanced candidate” for a further non-executive director position as it looks to also replace Ger Wright and Helen Wright, who are not seeking re-election at the group’s upcoming AGM.
Mr Murray said: “Jon’s deep experience in corporate governance and strategic leadership will be invaluable as we continue to grow as a leading global retail business.”
Frasers is majority-owned by retail tycoon Mr Ashley and also owns brands including House of Fraser, Flannels and Jack Wills and stakes in firms such as Hugo Boss.
Business
India charts strategy to soften 50% US tariff on exports, govt working overtime with stakeholders: CEA Anantha Nageswaran – The Times of India
Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) Anantha Nageswaran on Saturday said the government, along with various stakeholders, is working overtime to cushion India’s export sector from the impact of the 25% additional tariff imposed by the United States, which has raised the overall duty to 50%.Speaking virtually at an event organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce, he said crises, whether minor or major, often act as catalysts for action by the government, private sector and households, PTI reported. Since the US tariffs took effect on August 27, “conversations have been happening in the last three to four days” involving exporting bodies, promotion agencies and ministries, he added.The Ministry of Finance and other ministries are “working overtime” to frame a strategy that would provide both a “time cushion” and a “financial cushion” so affected sectors can “weather the present storm and also emerge stronger,” Nageswaran said. He also noted that a proposed agreement with the US, negotiated “in good faith” and nearly concluded, had been delayed due to “unexpected developments,” though not denied.The CEA also referred to India facing a penal tariff for buying Russian crude oil, which the Ministry of External Affairs has described as unreasonable. He expressed hope that the tariffs would be “short-lived” and that “an understanding of the importance of the larger dimensions of the India-US relationship will eventually prevail.”Highlighting “silver linings,” Nageswaran pointed out that India’s real GDP grew 7.8% year-on-year in Q1, while nominal GDP rose 8.8%, above private economists’ estimates. He attributed the lower nominal growth compared to earlier quarters to “good deflation,” driven by easing input costs such as crude oil and industrial metals, even as enterprises retained pricing power.The manufacturing sector’s Gross Value Added rose 10.1% in nominal terms and 7.7% in real terms, reflecting resilience. He said this underpins optimism that full-year nominal GDP growth will stay near the 10.1% assumed in the Union Budget.Nageswaran flagged that the “huge tax cut” for households with annual income up to Rs 26.7 lakh, announced in February, is already showing in higher advance tax payments. Further relief is expected through GST rationalisation and simplification.He also pointed to the new employment-linked incentive scheme, which rewards both employers and employees, calling it crucial to balance job creation with competitiveness in the AI era.On the global front, the CEA underlined India’s credit rating upgrade by Standard & Poor’s — the first in 30 years — and expressed confidence that Fitch may follow. He stressed that fiscal prudence, with the deficit brought down to 4.4% this year from 9.2% in 2021, has reduced borrowing costs and the private sector’s cost of capital by three percentage points over the last decade.Nageswaran said India is actively diversifying trade ties through FTAs with the UAE and UK, and ongoing talks with Oman and Bahrain, some of which could materialise before year-end. Calling the current situation an opportunity, he urged industry to diversify export markets, invest in R&D and product innovation, and improve practices to stay competitive.“Each one of us has an obligation to ourselves, society, our employees and our customers to use this opportunity to improve the way we do business and strive for innovation and excellence,” he said.He added that the government will double down on deregulation, ease of doing business and job creation while engaging with the US to resolve the tariff issue.
A sign for the CDC sits outside of their facility at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Roybal campus in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., May 30, 2025.
Megan Varner | Reuters
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told staff it expects them to return to offices by Sept. 15, roughly five weeks after a gunman’s deadly attack on the agency’s headquarters in Atlanta, CNBC has learned.
“Your safety remains our top priority. We are taking necessary steps to restore our workplace and will return to regular on-site operations no later than Monday, September 15,” Lynda Chapman, the agency’s new chief operating officer, said in an email sent Thursday that was viewed by CNBC.
Chapman said all staff will be expected to return to their offices by that date, according to the email. For employees whose workspaces remain impacted by the shooting — including physical damage from the gunman’s attack — the CDC will provide alternative spaces on its campus, Chapman wrote in the email.
She said the agency has made “significant progress” on repairs at the CDC Roybal Campus in Atlanta. CDC leadership and a “Response and Recovery Management” team are working to address staff concerns and ensure a safe environment as the agency transitions back to in-office work, Chapman added.
CDC staff had been instructed to work remotely following the Aug. 8 shooting, with options to return to the office in the weeks that followed, according to two people familiar with the matter, who requested anonymity for fear of retribution for speaking to the media.
The Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The internal announcement comes at a tumultuous time for the CDC and its workforce. The shooting didn’t result in injuries among CDC staff but shell-shocked a workforce that was already reeling from sweeping changes under HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., including staff cuts and heated controversy over his efforts to change CDC immunization policies and fire the agency’s panel of vaccine advisors.
The return-to-office guidance also comes as the CDC grapples with a leadership upheaval: The White House earlier this week said President Donald Trump had fired the agency’s director, Susan Monarez. Four other top officials resigned, some of them citing the politicization of the agency and a threat to public health.
Authorities identified the gunman behind the shooting at CDC headquarters as Patrick Joseph White and said they recovered five guns and more than 500 shell casings from the scene. During the attack, agency employees were forced to barricade themselves in offices.
White fatally shot a responding police officer, 33-year-old David Rose, and then killed himself. White had blamed the Covid-19 vaccine for making him depressed and suicidal.
Before her firing, Monarez appeared to directly blame the role of misinformation in the shooting, according to an email sent to staff on Aug. 12 that was viewed by CNBC.
In the note, Monarez said, “the dangers of misinformation and its promulgation has now led to deadly consequences. I will work to restore trust in public health to those who have lost it- through science, evidence, and clarity of purpose. I will need your help.”
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