COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

BBC cuts pay bill for its top stars

Britain's BBC said it had cut spending on its top stars by 10% and reduced its total public sector workforce by over 1 200 in the last financial year, becoming leaner even as the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted production and demand for news soared.

The broadcaster, which is funded by a licence fee paid by all TV-watching households, currently 159 pounds (US$220), is facing increasing competition from video-on-demand services like Netflix and political scrutiny of its output, particularly news.

Its highest paid presenter remained Gary Lineker, the "Match of the Day" host who is currently anchoring BBC's Euro 2020 coverage, on between 1 360 000 and 1 364 999 pounds. That is down from 1.75 million pounds after he signed a new contract.

BBC Radio 2 breakfast show presenter Zoe Ball was the second highest paid, with a salary between 1 130 000 to 1 134 999 pounds, the BBC said in its annual report.

BBC Director General Tim Davie said Ball had volunteered to take a pay cut, which would be reflected in full this year. Her pay this year will be 980 000 pounds, the BBC said. - Nampa/Reuters

Danish fintech Pleo raises US$150 mln

Danish fintech Pleo, which offers expense management tool and smart company cards, on Tuesday raised US$150 million at a valuation of about US$1.7 billion from US investment firms Bain Capital Ventures and Thrive Capital.

Pleo currently has more than 17 000 customers across six countries: Denmark, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, Germany and Sweden.

Founded in Copenhagen in 2015 by entrepreneurs Jeppe Rindom and Niccolo Perra, Pleo had earlier raised funds from Stripes, Kinnevik, Creandum, Founders and Seedcamp.

"Pleo is well-positioned to become the dominant player in small business spend management, an US$80 billion plus opportunity in Europe alone, and will only grow more essential to businesses as the company expands into bill payments in the near future," said Merritt Hummer, a partner at Bain Capital Ventures. -Nampa/Reuters

Twitter loses immunity

Twitter Inc no more enjoys liability protection against user-generated content in India as the US microblogging giant has failed to comply with new IT rules, the Indian government said in a court filing.

The statement is the first time Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration has officially said Twitter has lost its immunity after repeatedly criticising the company for non-compliance.

The dispute and the public spat have raised concern that American firms will find it difficult to do business amid a more stringent regulatory environment.

India's IT ministry told the High Court in New Delhi that Twitter's non-compliance amounted to a breach of the provisions of the IT Act, causing the US firm to lose its immunity, according to the filing dated July 5.

The filing came in a case filed by a Twitter user who wanted to complain about some allegedly defamatory tweets on the platform, and said the company was not complying with the new law that requires appointment of certain new executives. - Nampa/Reuters

Sainsbury's sales beat expectations

British supermarket group Sainsbury's on Tuesday beat expectations for first-quarter sales though growth did slow sharply reflecting a tough comparison with last year when shoppers stocked-up for a first Covid-19 lockdown.

The group, which trails market leader Tesco in annual sales, said like-for-like sales, excluding fuel, rose 1.6% in the 16 weeks to June 26, its fiscal first quarter versus analysts' average forecast of a fall of 1.7% and a rise of 11.3% in the previous quarter.

Sainsbury's said sales of grocery, general merchandise and clothing were all higher than its expectations throughout the quarter. It said it outperformed competitors and grew market share.

It said it had further tough comparable ahead as pandemic restrictions continue to ease and customer behaviour normalises.

Sainsbury's said it expected to report underlying profit before tax of at least 660 million pounds (US$917 million) in the 2021-22 year, up from 356 million pounds in 2020-21.- Nampa/Reuters

Gopher defends offer for software maker

Playtech Plc shareholder Gopher Investments on Tuesday made a case for its offer to buy the gambling software maker's financial trading division, after the company agreed to sell the business to a consortium led by private-equity group Barinboim.

Hong Kong-based Gopher, which holds 4.97% of Playtech, responded to the British company's statement on Friday and said it did not "fairly reflect" the US$250 million offer the fund had made to Playtech's board late in June.

London-listed Playtech began talking to the Barinboim consortium in January to sell the unit, Finalto, as part of plans to shed non-core assets and focus on its B2B businesses. The parties in May agreed to a deal worth US$210 million.

In defence of its offer, Gopher said it had already allocated funds for its proposal, and was confident of getting necessary approvals.

"Gopher urges the Board to adjourn the General Meeting, due to take place on July 15, 2021, and engage in discussions with Gopher to proceed towards a recommended transaction that delivers materially better value to Playtech's shareholders," it said in a statement. -Nampa/Reuters