Latest news with #board
Harvard Business Review
3 hours ago
- Business
- Harvard Business Review
Presenting a New Strategy to the Board—And Winning Their Buy-In
You and your team have worked hard on a new strategy and you're ready to present it to the board. You've done your homework, talking with directors one on one to gather suggestions and identify concerns. Now you want to have a robust and thoughtful discussion, but you ultimately need to get to their support to move forward.
Bloomberg
6 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Bloomberg
The Astronomer CEO's Coldplay Moment Is a Textbook Fiasco
With Coldplaygate on track to become one of the most viral moment of the year, you would think this is the first time in history that a CEO has gotten busted for having what certainly seems to be an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate. Well, let me tell you — this is far from the truth. As someone who covers corporate America, CEOs doing inappropriate things with inappropriate people has turned into its own mini-beat. Over time, I've learned a lot — too much! — about the indiscretions of those in charge. In some ways, the Andy Byron/Astronomer fiasco is a textbook case. But it also reveals the way our hyper-online world has transformed how CEOs — and company boards — need to think about the line between bosses' public and private lives.
Zawya
10 hours ago
- Business
- Zawya
Banque Saudi Fransi posts higher profits at $720mln in H1-25; dividends proposed
Riyadh – Banque Saudi Fransi recorded net profits worth SAR 2.74 billion in the first half (H1) of 2025, an annual rise of 20.27% from SAR 2.27 billion. Earnings per share (EPS) amounted to SAR 1.02 as of 30 June 2025, up from SAR 0.87 in H1-24, according to the initial financial results. Banque Saudi Fransi reported 6.90% year-on-year (YoY) higher clients' deposits at SAR 182.69 billion in the first six months (6M) of 2025, compared to SAR 196.24 billion. The assets increased by 4.28% to SAR 301.49 billion in H1-25 from SAR 289.10 billion in H1-24, while the investments jumped by 12.55% to SAR 62.79 billion from SAR 55.78 billion. Financials for Q2 In the second quarter (Q2) of 2025, the net profits reached SAR 1.40 billion, higher by 24.26% YoY than SAR 1.12 billion. Quarterly, the Q2-25 net profits climbed by 4.85% from the SAR 1.33 billion registered in January-March 2025. Cash Dividends The lender's board recommended cash dividends after Zakat amounting to SAR 1.37 billion, representing 5.50% of its share capital, for H1-25. Banque Saudi Fransi will disburse a dividend of SAR 0.55 per share for 2.49 billion eligible shares, according to a bourse disclosure. Eligibility and payment dates for the H1-25 dividends will be 27 July and 13 August 2025, respectively. All Rights Reserved - Mubasher Info © 2005 - 2022 Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
News.com.au
12 hours ago
- Business
- News.com.au
‘Remains tight': Why the RBA held interest rates in July
A stronger than expected job market stopped the RBA pulling the trigger on a July rate cut, leaving struggling homeowners to wait a little longer for rate relief. The central bank released its meeting minutes on Tuesday, showing the board decided to hold the cash rate despite inflation sitting within its target range. 'Recent monthly CPI indicator data – which can be volatile and do not cover all items in the CPI – were broadly consistent with this expectation,' the RBA board said. But with more Australians currently in work, the RBA was wary the strong employment figures could lead to an increase in inflation. 'The labour market was assessed to have remained tight, with measures of labour utilisation little changed over the prior year,' it said. 'Growth in private demand had begun to recover, but was still subdued.' The RBA had to work with May's unemployment figures, which showed just 4.1 per cent of eligible Australians were out of work. When the June figures were released after the RBA meeting, it showed unemployment had jumped to 4.3 per cent, with 34,000 Aussies losing their jobs. But households may not have to wait long for interest rate relief, with the RBA's meeting minutes seemingly clearing the way for further rate cuts. 'All members agreed that, based on the information currently available, the outlook was for underlying inflation to decline further in year-ended terms, warranting some additional reduction in interest rates over time,' the RBA minutes said. A cautious RBA monetary board held the official cash rate at 3.85 per cent following its July meeting, with the shock move defying expert commentators and predictions from the money markets. The board voted 6-3 in favour of the hold. 'A minority of members judged that there was a case to lower the cash rate target at this meeting,' the board said. 'These members placed more weight on downside risks to the economic outlook – stemming from a likely slowing in growth abroad and from the subdued pace of GDP growth in Australia.' Fronting the media after the decision, Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock said the votes were 'unattributed' and declined repeatedly to reveal her position. She said the board wanted to wait for the full quarterly data to be released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. 'By then we will know what the June quarter CPI is and if it comes in as we think it will – a little bit at the margin, we're a little bit worried about – but if it comes in as we think it will, continue to decline, then that validates our easing path,' she said. Opinion remains divided as to whether the hold was the right decision. Westpac chief economist Luci Ellis, who worked for the RBA for 15 years, says the central bank might have chosen to 'assert its independence' by bucking expectations of a rate cut. 'There was no real economic benefit to waiting five more weeks,' Ms Ellis wrote in an economic note released last week. While the decision may have left homeowners frustrated, Ms Ellis said it was a low-risk decision for the central bank from a broader economic perspective. 'The dirty little secret of monetary policy is that small differences in the level of interest rates or the timing of changes make essentially no difference for inflation outcomes,' Ms Ellis said. 'If holding the cash rate 100 basis points lower for a year only boosts inflation by 0.2 per cent or so – broadly the result from the RBA's main model – then 25bp higher for five weeks is not even a rounding error.' The RBA will next meet on August 12, with money markets widely forecasting a rate cut.
Telegraph
a day ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Nationwide's self-righteousness has been exposed as a sham
Who said banking was boring? One glance at Nationwide's website and you might wonder if you were in the company of some crusading NGO on the cusp of saving the planet. 'We are not a bank, built to make money for shareholders. We are … a mutual, owned by and run for the benefit of our members', it proudly states. 'There's no one else quite like us.' It surely doesn't need pointing out that if you're going to join the sanctimonious crowd and act like a paragon of virtue then you definitely need to walk the walk. Yet Nationwide is rapidly turning into a world-beater in hollow soundbites. The Nationwide model is a simple one. The concept of democracy is absolutely core to mutual status – when it comes to major strategic moves or matters of genuine consequence, its 16 million members are supposed to have a say. Without that, it instantly loses its USP and becomes just another self-interested organisation out to make a quick profit at all costs. Unfortunately, Nationwide's members are quickly learning that despite management endlessly shouting about its principled ways, this supposedly ethical approach appears increasingly to be built on flimsy foundations. The latest example of Nationwide's readiness to ride roughshod over the will of its members comes in the form of what should have been a fairly routine board re-election vote at its annual general meeting. But it is in danger of spiralling into another embarrassing storm for the organisation. Members – not unfairly – point out that of the 13 board members up for re-election, none of them have been nominated by them. They are also concerned that there aren't enough directors with the experience of running a mutual. On the face of it, it is hardly a scandal to rival Watergate, but because the situation has been so poorly handled, Nationwide risks coming out of it terribly. It is also fundamental to what the mutual insists it stands for, so while it may seem largely inconsequential, it is another test of its claims to operate ethically. In keeping with Nationwide's democratic values, members can put forward candidates if they obtain 250 endorsements. But one customer, James Sherwin-Smith, claims his nomination was blocked despite receiving 600 signatories. Nationwide disputes this - the number of valid nominations received fell 'substantially short of the threshold', it says. But the word 'valid' sticks out like a sore thumb in that sentence. In the interests of full transparency, it needs to explain how many votes were invalidated and why, otherwise this whole farrago smacks of an organisation that continues to obfuscate whenever the threat of real scrutiny presents itself. With all 13 directors up for re-election and not a single one of them nominated by members, one empathises entirely when Sherwin-Smith says: 'It's unclear to members where the representation for us is. It feels to us that the board is doing what the board wants, not what the members want.' If a row over the re-election of directors was its only misdemeanour, Nationwide would be entitled to feel hard done by perhaps. Yet such episodes are starting to become the norm rather than the exception to the extent that it is beginning to look like it is not being run for the benefit of members. This, after all, is a board currently trying to see off an entirely justified backlash over a bumper £7m pay award for chief executive Debbie Crosbie that wouldn't look out of place at some of the big investment banks. It's certainly not out of kilter with what the bosses of Britain's high street banks get paid. However, as one bank chief privately points out, running a building society that essentially provides mortgages, current accounts and not much else, isn't nearly as complex as running a publicly listed financial institution with an investment banking arm or overseas operations. So why is Crosbie being paid like she is? It is way more than her building society peers earn. Susan Allen, chief executive at Yorkshire Building Society, receives around £1.6m a year, while Steve Hughes, the boss of Coventry Building Society, took home £1.2m last year. A big part of the reason is Nationwide's takeover of Virgin Money last year. According to senior independent director Tracey Graham, the deal 'significantly increased the size and scope' of the business, bringing 'additional operational complexity and demands of executive roles'. Yet that somewhat conveniently overlooks the fact that there was serious opposition both from Virgin shareholders who complained they were the subject of a low-ball offer, and Nationwide members after they were denied a vote on the tie-up. Instead of doing the courageous thing and putting it to a ballot, the two sides hid behind merger rules and archaic legislation they insisted prevented any such move. Members were essentially being asked to take Crosbie and her team on their word. However, this was a regime whose credibility had suffered a serious knock when a Nationwide TV ad claiming it wasn't closing branches was banned on the grounds it was misleading. With Nationwide boasting, 'you have a voice we want to hear', members are entitled to ask whether that only applies when it suits those at the top.
