BP Share News (BP.)

The board of Sports Direct has reignited a row with its minority investors over executive rewards by creating a £200m bonus fund that conceals a likely payout for Mike Ashley, its billionaire founder. Shareholders reacted with indignation as the sportswear chain came up with its third plan in two years for a performance-related payout scheme involving Mr Ashley. Two months ago, a scheme offering a £73m payout to the founder was withdrawn after failing to win enough support. - The Times Tesco has outlined its biggest assault yet on Britain's high street banks by launching its first current account, 17 years after it entered financial services. The retailer's banking division, which boasts 6m customers through its sales of mortgages, savings accounts and insurance, plans to exploit its network of stores and incentives such as rewards for Clubcard subscribers to encourage customers to move away from the major lenders. - The Daily Telegraph BP has lost a last-ditch legal appeal to prevent having to pay out hundreds of millions of dollars of what it claims are "fictitious" and "absurd" compensation claims over its Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The US Supreme Court last night rejected the oil company's application to keep in place an injunction blocking contested payments. A New Orleans court had last week lifted the injunction, which had been in place since December, to give BP time to make its case over the compensation deal it struck two years ago at the heart of the dispute. - The Times Fears among Britain's top lenders that the recent rapid house price growth could lead to a crash are now close to levels seen during the Great Recession, according to a Bank of England survey. The Bank's twice-yearly Systemic Risk Survey showed 40% of UK banks, building societies and asset managers said the risk of property price falls posed a "key risk" to the economy, compared with 36% of respondents last November and just 14% in the second half of 2012. - The Daily TelegraphThe boss of SSP played down recent "blips" in the stock market yesterday as the airport catering specialist served up appetising profits in advance of a possible £2bn flotation. Kate Swann, the former WH Smith Chief Executive who took the helm of SSP last year, acknowledged that the market for new issues had been volatile but said that the "fundamental strengths" of the business would prevail. - The Times Supermarkets are being warned they are locked in a "race to the bottom" in a new report showing that a food price war dragged sales lower last month. The British Retail Consortium said like-for-like food sales fell by an annual rate of 2.2% during March to May, in contrast to a year earlier when turnover grew 0.7%. On one measure, it was the worst quarter for food sales since BRC records began in 2008. Non-food sales were better, buoyed by demand for TVs for the World Cup and summer clothes. - The GuardianAB