Latest news with #JD Sports
Yahoo
28-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
JD Sports, M&S and Sainsbury's to face shareholder pressure over low pay
Major high street retailers are set to face pressure from shareholders over low pay in their workforce, including third-party contractors. ShareAction, which campaigns for responsible investment, has put forward resolutions on the issue, which will be voted on by shareholders at M&S and JD Sports' annual general meetings (AGMs) on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively. While the group is not filing a resolution at Sainsbury's, shareholders will directly question the board about pay transparency at the supermarket's AGM on Thursday. The companies are facing questions over wages that do not meet the 'real living wage' of £12.60 per hour nationally and £13.85 per hour in London for those aged 21 and over. These wages, which are set by the Living Wage Foundation to reflect the true cost of living, exceed the 2025/26 legal minimum wage of £12.21 set for the whole country including London. ShareAction argues the real living wage boosts stability, productivity and brand value, and has long been campaigning on the issue across the retail sector. Catherine Howarth, chief executive at ShareAction, said: 'We urge investors to support the shareholder resolutions going to a vote at the AGMs of M&S and JD Sports. 'Votes in support will endorse good governance and risk management whilst recognising the workers who keep these businesses running.' The resolutions ask M&S and JD Sports to disclose information on the number of employees earning below the real living wage and staff turnover rates as well their approach to setting base pay for contracted staff and a cost/benefit analysis of setting the real living wage across their workforce. While M&S pays direct employees at least the real living wage, it argues that third-party contractors are independent and set their own pay. M&S's board is recommending shareholders oppose the resolution, citing its recent investments in employee compensation of more than £285 million since 2022 and an increase to the standard hourly rate by more than 26%. On third-party contractors, it also said the vast majority of colleagues are paid at or above the real living wage. At the AGM, M&S could also be questioned about the major cyber attack it suffered earlier this year, which halted website orders, disrupted contactless payments, left some shelves empty and saw personal customer data taken by hackers. The company said the incident is likely to drag its group operating profits down by around £300 million this year but it expects this to be reduced through cost management, insurance and other reactions. For JD Sports, the activists argue that the firm only guarantees the legal minimum wage and lacks transparency on contractor pay. The board has advised shareholders to vote against the proposals, saying the firm complies with legal requirements and has invested more than £75 million over the last three years in removing the age banding as well as enhancing the remuneration and benefits of lowest-paid workers. Further reporting adds no value, reduces flexibility, raises costs and may harm competitiveness, the retailer said. Pensions & Investment Research Consultants (PIRC), which is Europe's largest independent shareholder advisory consultancy, is supporting the resolution at both companies' AGMs. PIRC said that while M&S has made progress on pay, there is still room to improve in formally committing to wage standards and increasing transparency for contractor pay. For JD Sports, the consultancy argues that legal compliance is not best practice and that pay transparency is needed to assess risks and resilience. It follows an identical resolution filed at Next in May, which gained the support of over a quarter of shareholders. While not legally binding, support for shareholder resolutions can put pressure on business leaders to respond to the matters raised, and more than 20% of dissent against the board can be considered a rebellion. During Sainbury's AGM, shareholders plan to stand up and ask the board to commit to disclosing the composition and pay of their workforce, employee turnover, and the feasibility of paying the real living wage for all staff, including all third-party contractors. An M&S spokesperson said: 'In addition to paying the real living wage, we offer an industry-leading range of benefits which, when taken with hourly pay, is worth up to £15.40 an hour. 'In regards to on-site third party contractors, which we use for specialist roles and to support the inherent seasonality in retail, a vast proportion of colleagues are paid at or above the real living wage and we go to great lengths to ensure they are all treated as part of the M&S family. 'While we support and act on the principle that all M&S-related colleagues should be paid well, we do not believe it is right to divest responsibility for setting pay and benefits away from businesses and their shareholders to a third party, as ShareAction would propose.' A JD Group spokesperson said: 'Our highly competitive UK colleague package is specifically designed to address the needs of our predominantly young workforce. 'We remain committed to providing fair wages and acting in the best interests of all stakeholders and have been engaging with shareholders ahead of our AGM on July 2 to outline our holistic approach to reward and benefits and are grateful for their supportive response. 'We are proud of our role as one of the UK's largest employers of young people, often giving them their first jobs and teaching them skills and disciplines that stand them in good stead for the rest of their working lives, including long-term opportunities with JD.' The PA news agency has contacted Sainsbury's for comment.
The Independent
28-06-2025
- Business
- The Independent
JD Sports, M&S and Sainsbury's to face shareholder pressure over low pay
Major high street retailers are set to face pressure from shareholders over low pay in their workforce, including third-party contractors. ShareAction, which campaigns for responsible investment, has put forward resolutions on the issue, which will be voted on by shareholders at M&S and JD Sports' annual general meetings (AGM s) on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively. While the group is not filing a resolution at Sainsbury's, shareholders will directly question the board about pay transparency at the supermarket's AGM on Thursday. The companies are facing questions over wages that do not meet the 'real living wage' of £12.60 per hour nationally and £13.85 per hour in London for those aged 21 and over. These wages, which are set by the Living Wage Foundation to reflect the true cost of living, exceed the 2025/26 legal minimum wage of £12.21 set for the whole country including London. ShareAction argues the real living wage boosts stability, productivity and brand value, and has long been campaigning on the issue across the retail sector. Catherine Howarth, chief executive at ShareAction, said: 'We urge investors to support the shareholder resolutions going to a vote at the AGMs of M&S and JD Sports. 'Votes in support will endorse good governance and risk management whilst recognising the workers who keep these businesses running.' The resolutions ask M&S and JD Sports to disclose information on the number of employees earning below the real living wage and staff turnover rates as well their approach to setting base pay for contracted staff and a cost/benefit analysis of setting the real living wage across their workforce. While M&S pays direct employees at least the real living wage, it argues that third-party contractors are independent and set their own pay. M&S's board is recommending shareholders oppose the resolution, citing its recent investments in employee compensation of more than £285 million since 2022 and an increase to the standard hourly rate by more than 26%. On third-party contractors, it also said the vast majority of colleagues are paid at or above the real living wage. At the AGM, M&S could also be questioned about the major cyber attack it suffered earlier this year, which halted website orders, disrupted contactless payments, left some shelves empty and saw personal customer data taken by hackers. The company said the incident is likely to drag its group operating profits down by around £300 million this year but it expects this to be reduced through cost management, insurance and other reactions. For JD Sports, the activists argue that the firm only guarantees the legal minimum wage and lacks transparency on contractor pay. The board has advised shareholders to vote against the proposals, saying the firm complies with legal requirements and has invested more than £75 million over the last three years in removing the age banding as well as enhancing the remuneration and benefits of lowest-paid workers. Further reporting adds no value, reduces flexibility, raises costs and may harm competitiveness, the retailer said. Pensions & Investment Research Consultants (PIRC), which is Europe's largest independent shareholder advisory consultancy, is supporting the resolution at both companies' AGMs. PIRC said that while M&S has made progress on pay, there is still room to improve in formally committing to wage standards and increasing transparency for contractor pay. For JD Sports, the consultancy argues that legal compliance is not best practice and that pay transparency is needed to assess risks and resilience. It follows an identical resolution filed at Next in May, which gained the support of over a quarter of shareholders. While not legally binding, support for shareholder resolutions can put pressure on business leaders to respond to the matters raised, and more than 20% of dissent against the board can be considered a rebellion. During Sainbury's AGM, shareholders plan to stand up and ask the board to commit to disclosing the composition and pay of their workforce, employee turnover, and the feasibility of paying the real living wage for all staff, including all third-party contractors. An M&S spokesperson said: 'In addition to paying the real living wage, we offer an industry-leading range of benefits which, when taken with hourly pay, is worth up to £15.40 an hour. 'In regards to on-site third party contractors, which we use for specialist roles and to support the inherent seasonality in retail, a vast proportion of colleagues are paid at or above the real living wage and we go to great lengths to ensure they are all treated as part of the M&S family. 'While we support and act on the principle that all M&S-related colleagues should be paid well, we do not believe it is right to divest responsibility for setting pay and benefits away from businesses and their shareholders to a third party, as ShareAction would propose.' A JD Group spokesperson said: 'Our highly competitive UK colleague package is specifically designed to address the needs of our predominantly young workforce. 'We remain committed to providing fair wages and acting in the best interests of all stakeholders and have been engaging with shareholders ahead of our AGM on July 2 to outline our holistic approach to reward and benefits and are grateful for their supportive response. 'We are proud of our role as one of the UK's largest employers of young people, often giving them their first jobs and teaching them skills and disciplines that stand them in good stead for the rest of their working lives, including long-term opportunities with JD.'
Yahoo
28-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
I've been loading up on this cheap FTSE 100 share this week!
This week I bought some more shares in a FTSE 100 company that already features heavily in my portfolio. In fact, although I always want to keep my portfolio diversified, I decided that topping up my holding in this company when the share price looked particularly cheap could potentially prove to be a lucrative move. The FTSE 100 share in question is JD Sports (LSE: JD). Why am I so excited about it? Legendary investor Warren Buffett talks about buying into great companies at attractive prices. In my opinion, JD Sports currently ticks both those boxes. To start, consider the business. JD's focus is on selling clothes, shoes and other athletic goods. That is a large market and one that is likely to endure. The customer base also seems to be happy to shell out on pricy goods even when the economy is weak, something I see as a bonus although I do still fear that a deep enough economic downturn could hurt sales. JD Sports has built economies of scale and also has a substantial international reach. It has built a sizeable digital presence but not at the expense of abandoning bricks and mortar. In fact, it has been opening hundreds of stores in recent years and this month opened its largest one yet, at Manchester's Trafford Centre. With a strong brand, regular special products unique to JD, loyal customer base and ongoing growth plans, I reckon this is an outstanding business. But the road has had some bumps. Last year, JD sports issued profit warnings and it has reined in its aggressive store opening programme. A key supplier Nike has had a difficult few years and ongoing weakness in the brand's sales is a risk for JD Sports too given how big a proportion of its sales are of Nike products. But does that justify a share price in pennies? The FTSE 100 company has no debt (excluding lease liabilities) and a market capitalisation of £4.2bn. Yet last year's profit before tax and adjusting items came in at £0.9bn. To me, that makes the current share price in pennies look unreasonably cheap. In a tough market with uncertain risks like tariffs and unpredictable international shipping rates, the FTSE 100 company's profits this year and in subsequent years may not match last year's performance. However, I remain upbeat about the long-term story here. JD's investment in growth over recent years is paying rewards already as far as I am concerned. The next couple of years will see major sporting events that could help boost customer demand. The company has a proven model that is highly cash-generative and could help support further growth without the company needing to take on debt to fund it. As far as I am concerned, the current JD Sports share price is a bargain. I acted on it because I did not want to miss what I see as an excellent opportunity. The post I've been loading up on this cheap FTSE 100 share this week! appeared first on The Motley Fool UK. More reading 5 Stocks For Trying To Build Wealth After 50 One Top Growth Stock from the Motley Fool C Ruane has positions in JD Sports Fashion. The Motley Fool UK has recommended Nike. Views expressed on the companies mentioned in this article are those of the writer and therefore may differ from the official recommendations we make in our subscription services such as Share Advisor, Hidden Winners and Pro. Here at The Motley Fool we believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. Motley Fool UK 2025 Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Reuters
27-06-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Nike Frankfurt shares rise 9% after results; lifts Adidas, Puma
LONDON, June 27 (Reuters) - Nike shares rose 9.2% in Frankfurt on Friday, a day after the company forecast a smaller-than-expected drop in first-quarter revenue, and said it would cut its reliance on production in China for the U.S. market to mitigate the impact from tariffs The retailer's U.S. shares rose 11% in extended trading on Thursday. (NKE.N), opens new tab Nike's results also boosted the performance of European sportswear brands on Friday such as Puma ( opens new tab, up 4.5%, and Adidas ( opens new tab, up 3%. London-listed sportswear retailer JD Sports (JD.L), opens new tab rose 8%.
Yahoo
27-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Nike Frankfurt shares rise 9% after results; lifts Adidas, Puma
LONDON (Reuters) -Nike shares rose 9.2% in Frankfurt on Friday, a day after the company forecast a smaller-than-expected drop in first-quarter revenue, and said it would cut its reliance on production in China for the U.S. market to mitigate the impact from tariffs The retailer's U.S. shares rose 11% in extended trading on Thursday. Nike's results also boosted the performance of European sportswear brands on Friday such as Puma, up 4.5%, and Adidas, up 3%. London-listed sportswear retailer JD Sports rose 8%.
