Reputation monitor: Standard Life eyes listing as probe hurts Compass
Allegations of corruption sent troubled Compass Group into the bottom five of this week’s Reputation Monitor table.
Morrisons was bottom after it announced plans to shut seven stores, putting 560 jobs at risk. The supermarket also recorded its first loss in its 106-year history.
Eurotunnel also fared poorly amid news of job cuts (see News, p14 and What the Papers Say, p15). However, the firm expects to meet next year's debt payments.
Standard Life was top after the confirmation of its flotation, planned for 2006. The company will be valued at between £4bn and £7bn, and its 2.4 million policyholders can expect windfalls of around £1,000.
Young savers at Halifax were also set to profit, with the Children's Regular Saver account offering ten per cent gross interest for the first 12 months – the first double-digit interest rate in more than a decade.
Asda was second after it banned eggs and flour sales to under-16s in the run-up to Halloween.
Reputation Monitor is compiled from Thomson Intermedia's National News Index, a measure of media sentiment that excludes stock market reports and passing mentions.
