Rose row set to rumble on
MARKS and Spencer is this week preparing to post better-than-expected sales figures for the first quarter, though the results will remain overshadowed by growing unrest among shareholders regarding Sir Stuart Rose’s dual leadership role.
According to analysts, favourable weather patterns and a late Easter should have boosted the retailer’s performance over the first quarter. M&S is expected to report a 1.8 – 3.5 per cent drop in like-for-like sales during the three months to the end of June when it updates the market on Wednesday. This would be a marked improvement from the 4.2 per cent plunge in sales that the group suffered over the previous quarter.
But Rose is facing renewed calls to share power, a year after he quashed an investor insurgence over his elevation from chief executive to executive chairman, a move that contravenes best corporate governance guidelines.
Shareholder advisory groups have urged investors to support a resolution to split the chairman and chief executive roles at the firm’s annual meeting on 8 July. Around 20 per cent of shareholders are understood to have pledged their support.
The resolution was filed by the Local Authority Pension Fund Forum, which is calling for a new independent chairman to be appointed by July 2010, ahead of Rose’s planned 2011 retirement. Former Hilton boss Sir David Michels is tipped for the job.