Lloyds chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio can pop open a bottle tonight. But it’s an occasion for Spanish cava, not vintage Bollinger.
Today’s sale price for TSB is good — nearly a third up on November’s float. It’s a credit to him and TSB’s Paul Pester that they’ve carved out a new bank appealing enough to attract a buyer only five years on from its inception.
Especially when you see how far RBS is from its equivalent project to create Williams & Glyn. But the positives for Lloyds are tempered by the costs of the process, fully revealed in today’s documentation.
In total, since the European Commission ordered it to offload 632 bank branches in payback for the state aid it received, the whole long and winding road has cost Lloyds £2.64 billion.
That’s £1 billion more than they’ll recoup in total from the TSB sale. More to the point, for much of the process, 40% of those costs were effectively borne by taxpayers through our stake in Lloyds.
Still, the taxpayer’s holding has now been whittled down to 23%, and today’s deal makes it easier for the Chancellor to meet his Budget target of flogging off most of the rest by the end of the year.
So, a day for muted celebrations.
Lower pay a good bet
How often have we heard the following mantra from our big companies: you have to beat the pay on offer from the biggest companies in the world or get muppets running our businesses?
Most of us outside the City’s remuneration committees have been suspicious of the claim.
Now, Ladbrokes has broken ranks by offering its new chief executive a package far less generous than that of his predecessor. And, to be honest, Jim Mullen looks better qualified for the job.
Refreshingly, Mullen says he doesn’t mind not being on the same whack. He’s still getting paid generously and that’s good enough for him.
Even if the man he’s replacing, Richard Glynn, got £4.7 million the year earlier for doing a so-so job.
Glynn never got his arms around the thorny problem of Ladbrokes’ dismal online business, which triggered profit warnings in 2013 and resulted in his ousting.
Meanwhile, Mullen seems to get the fact that, for most of us, the chance of earning well over £1 million a year would be pretty satisfying, no matter what the predecessor got.
He specifically says he’ll still feel adequately motivated and is well up for the challenges ahead.
The test is, can he deliver as much as a better-paid boss from elsewhere would have done.
Given his CV, with all his experience building up rival William Hill’s top-notch online business, I expect the answer will be a resounding “yesâ€.
For once I’m hoping luck’s on the bookie’s side, and that, when it comes to pay, other companies will take note.