Sales at Powerhouse Retail topped £160m last year.ScottishPower is also looking to sell or restructure Southern Water, another of its subsidiaries. The move is part of the restructuring plans announced by the utility last month when it posted a 15 per cent fall in full-year pre-tax profits before exceptionals to £628m Its shares closed down 7p at 528p.. The London Stock Exchange was heading for a conflict over corporate governance last night after it revealed plans to award fresh share options to Don Cruickshank, its non-executive chairman, and detailed £2m in special payments made last year to executives, despite the collapse of its merger plans with Deutsche Bourse. The London Stock Exchange was heading for a conflict over corporate governance last night after it revealed plans to award fresh share options to Don Cruickshank, its non-executive chairman, and detailed £2m in special payments made last year to executives, despite the collapse of its merger plans with Deutsche Bourse.
Gavin Casey, since replaced as chief executive by Clara Furse, received a bonus of £138,000 for five-and-a-half months’ work last year, along with £950,000 in compensation for loss of office.

Ms Furse was paid a bonus of £50,000 just 10 weeks after joining at the end of January.Mr Cruickshank received a bonus of £250,000, on top of £432,000 basic salary Two other executives shared bonuses totalling £530,000. The payments were set out in the listing particulars for the LSE’s forthcoming flotation.Despite being a non-executive, Mr Cruickshank is now paid £350,000 a year, about £50,000 more than Ms Furse. He is also to enjoy a three-year term and be allowed to receive share options. Both benefits are contrary to corporate governance best practice.The LSE said its remuneration committee “would not expect” to grant options to Mr Cruickshank. But in the event of a takeover he would receive a pay-off equal to one year’s salary and share options of a value to be determined by the remuneration committee.

Fees paid to each of the LSE’s other main non-executive directors will double to £30,000.The LSE confirmed that it expected the shares to commence trading on 20 July, although the listing documents contained little by way of additional information about strategy.The LSE said its objectives were to: become the market of choice in the European time zone; extend its services and product range; build scale; and promote the capital markets.. A senior member of the Monetary Policy Committee warned yesterday of “tentative signs” of inflation pressure as the cost of living in the euro area hit an eight-year high. A senior member of the Monetary Policy Committee warned yesterday of “tentative signs” of inflation pressure as the cost of living in the euro area hit an eight-year high.
Mervyn King, the deputy governor of the Bank of England, said the MPC would monitor inflation “extremely carefully”. His remarks will fuel fears that the next move for interest rates is up.Mr King said the UK faced two threats: an imbalance between the domestic and export sides of the economy and uncertainty over the global economic outlook. He warned that any rebalancing would be accompanied by a fall in the pound: “The existing imbalances pose risks to the inflation outlook.”He said the strength of sterling had helped drive goods inflation close to zero, allowing services inflation to rise as high as 4 per cent without threatening the target.