Looks like Barclays (LON:BARC) CEO Jes Staley will hold on to his top job after regulators said they will fine the executive for his attempt in 2016 to identify a whistleblower. The unspecified penalty follows a 12-month investigation which found that while Staley was clearly in breach of a conduct rule, he did not act with a “lack of integrity” nor did he lack “fitness and propriety” to continue in his job. Barclay’s board are still backing the CEO and are recommending his re-election at the AGM in May.
From banks to drugmakers, Shire plc (NASDAQ:SHPG) revealed yesterday that it has been busy rejecting a serious of takeover offers from Japan’s Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (T:4502) including a £42bn bid. While the Irish firm said the latest proposal “significantly” undervalued the company, it did not rule out a future deal. Takeda said the companies were still in talks. Meanwhile, Allergen revealed in a statement that it did not intend to make an offer for Shire after it was identified as a potential bidder.
Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC (LON:RB) reported first quarter sales on Friday that missed analyst estimates. Like-for-like sales rose 2% to £3.1bn, versus the 2.6% average analyst estimate. Even so, the UK consumer goods company said they had made a “solid start” to the year with the company on track to meet their full year net revenue target.
Bank of Ireland Group plc (LON:BIRG) issued a Q1 interim statement saying the group continued to trade in line with expectations and that the macro picture in Ireland and the UK “remained positive” despite Brexit. It said their net interest margin was is in line with expectations and for the first three months of 2018 was 2.22%.
Finally, a shareholder of Countryside Properties PLC (LON:CSPC) has sold their entire 8% stake in the company. They sold about 38.2m shares at 358p each.