Finance Extra for the UK and Spain

Cost-cutting Big Four accountant Deloitte, whose partners earn approximately £1 million (€1.17 million) annually, employs 27,000 people in the UK and proposes to make 100 workers redundant.  The future job cuts will affect 5 per cent of financial advisory service staff, coinciding with a deal-making decline and high interest rates. 

Old guard Pharmaceutical company Grifols announced a new chief executive and three members of the founding family resigned their executive roles on February 5, four weeks after an attack by the short-seller fund Gotham City queried its accounting.  Shares slumped a month ago but have now risen by 1.5 per cent.

On track Marks & Spencer is set to leave Waitrose behind as it woos more of its well-heeled customers.   Data experts Nielsen announced recently that M&S is currently tied with Waitrose, with each on 3.8 per cent of the market, compared with 2021 when Waitrose accounted for 4.2 per cent and M&S with 3.2 per cent.

Ford layoff Unions at Ford’s Almussafes (Valencia) have requested a furlough scheme affecting up to 750 employees a day between February and April 2024.  Following an advisory committee meeting, UGT, which represents the majority of workers, announced that it was prepared to extend layoffs only until late March.

Don’t split Analysis by the Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis, part of America’s Reserve System, revealed that while divorce is costly for both men and women, males generally lost twice as much of their income. US couples who split up in 2023 experienced an average 12 per cent reduction in income compared with those staying together.

Rescue at hand The official receiver in charge of the Marie Claire bankruptcy told the company works committee that a buyer had been found and the stockings and underwear firm founded in 1907 would reopen. A contract due to be signed “within days”would provide jobs for 72 currently furloughed employees and up to 150 more, , he announced on February 7 .

AI plans In a £1 billion (€1.17 billion) cost-cutting programme over the next three years, Sainsbury’s will use more automated tills and warehouse robots plus AI forecasting tools to make sure supermarkets are adequately stocked.  Chief executive Simon Roberts admitted there could be job losses but said employees would be able to change their roles and adapt to new methods.

Saudi plum Lockheed Martin selected Spain’s Indra company to equip four ships with ultramodern electronic defence systems for the Saudi Arabian navy but did not reveal details of the sums involved.  The ships, which are 118 metres long and capable of 5,000 nautical miles (9,260 kilometres) without refuelling, will operate along the coast and at sea.

Go it alone Zuber Issa is negotiating the sale of his 22.5 per cent holding in the ASDA supermarket chain as he splits from older brother, Mohsin.  Issa reportedly wishes to focus on the brothers’ EG Group petrol stations although selling his stake could be complicated by existing agreements with Mohsin and Asda’s other shareholder TDR Capital.

Stat of the Week: €1.1 billion has been raised by Bankinter Asset Management’s record-breaking Premium Fixed Income investment fund in the three months since its launch in November 2023.