Almost the entire non-Bollor?hareholding voted against the two nominees M

Almost the entire non-Bollor?hareholding voted against the two nominees M. Bollor?as defeated only because of an unusually high turnout in the voting, with 76 per cent of Aegis shares being cast.Anticipating failure, M. Bollor? two nominees to the Aegis board, Philippe Germond and Roger Hatchuel, had 58 per cent of the votes cast against them, against support from 42 per cent of the shares. to have the main shareholder in conflict with the company," he said after the annual meeting.M. Bollor?oted against every non-executive director put up for re-election by Aegis."I believe for the company to have a period of instability will be very bad ... Bollor?urned up at the Aegis annual meeting, saying he would fight a lengthy battle to get board representation, likening his intent to a "long love affair". However, he made it clear it would not necessarily be a happy affair by voting the 29 per cent shareholding of his Groupe Bollor?gainst two special resolutions put up by the company, defeating them both These related to Aegis's ability to issue new shares M.

Vincent Bollor?the French corporate raider, will call an extraordinary meeting at Aegis after narrowly failing to get two representatives elected on to the market research and advertising group's board yesterday M. "The overall pay figures also indicate that the imported inflation worrying the Bank of England has still not fed through into pay rises.". The annual increase in April dropped to 2.7 per cent, the lowest level since April 1998.John Philpott, the chief economist at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, said public sector workers were now receiving lower pay increases than at any time since the spending "bonanza" began."This spells the end of the relatively good times enjoyed by public servants in recent years," he said. The ONS said the increase was driven by City bonuses, and economists focused on the non-bonus figure, which fell 0.1 points to 3.8 per cent.The slowdown in underlying earnings was driven by a sharp fall in public sector pay growth. Analysts explained the puzzle, saying that inflows of migrant workers and pensioners into the workforce was boosting labour supply.The average annual pay growth crept up to 4.4 per cent in the three months to April, its highest for a year and up from 4.2 per cent in the prior three months.

Official figures published yesterday showed that 77,000 joined the ranks of the unemployed in the three months to April, taking the jobless rate to 5.3 per cent, its highest since September 2002. The claimant count, the number out of work and drawing benefit, rose by 5,800 to 950,900. It was the 14th rise in the past 15 months, the Office for National Statistics said.But the ONS said that, despite the rise in unemployment, the total number in work went up to 28.94 million - the highest since records began in 1971. A rise in unemployment to a three-year high and a sharp slowdown in public sector pay rises relieved worries in the City over the need for a rise in interest rates, but added to doubts over the health of the economy. Aviva's merger approach for Prudential in March raised hopes for consolidation in the industry, as did Standard's admission that it had received a merger approach, widely believed to have come from Resolution Since then, merger hopes have faded.. Sentiment towards insurance companies has been harder hit than the wider market in recent weeks. Standard received formal permission to demutualise from the Court of Session in Edinburgh at the end of last week. This month, the cinema chain Cineworld and the Scottish investment vehicle Braveheart were among those to put listings on ice.

The nursing homes group Southern Cross, which had been planning a £550m listing next month, is also expected to confirm it has shelved its flotation plans for now because of the market turmoil. Standard declined to comment on whether the price range would be cut. However, a spokesman said: "At all times, Standard Life's focus has been on maximising the value to be distributed to its members at the point of flotation." Although several smaller companies have delayed stock market debuts in these unsettled markets, Standard seems determined to press ahead with what will be the biggest flotation in London for five years. The prospectus will also confirm that members and customers will be offered the chance to buy shares at a 5 per cent discount to their opening price at flotation.