Tesco has the worst corporate governance of all the FTSE 100 firms, according to the Institute of Directors. The Times said Britain’s biggest grocer has found itself at the bottom of the institute’s index of best boardroom practice at a time when the reputation of big business was particularly low, with high street retailers such as Sports Direct facing criticism from MPs and the behaviour of BHS owners facing intense scrutiny. The supermarket chain was brought down by the lowest scores for accounting and audit practices that were largely the result of the accounting scandal and a series of profit warnings in the past two years, The Guardian writes. British American Tobacco came out on top of the FTSE 100 companies, followed by Unilever, Diageo, Sage and Next (The Telegraph).
Bayer has increased its all-cash offer for Monsanto to $65bn in an attempt to reach an agreed deal with the American pioneer of genetically modified seeds (The Times). Bayer had already proposed the largest all-cash takeover in history with an offer of $125 a share and said it was now willing to raise its bid to $127.50 (The Guardian). The Financial Times reports on fears on both sides of the Atlantic that a deal could reduce choice for farmers in markets already dominated by a few large companies, and ultimately drive up food prices for consumers.
Pret A Manger is to keep open its pop-up vegetarian-only store after strong customer demand for the meat-free shop (The Telegraph). The Guardian writes that even Sir Paul McCartney was a vocal fan of the new concept.
Sainsbury’s has made a host of changes to its £3 meal deal, sparking anger on social media from customers (The Independent).
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