Sainsbury’s chief executive Mike Coupe enjoyed a hike of almost 7% in his overall pay in the past financial year despite the collapse of the group’s planned takeover of Asda (The Financial Times £). He was paid £3.88m in the year to March 9, compared with £3.63m the year before, the company’s annual report shows. That total included £2.61m of variable pay, comprising bonus, deferred share awards and long-term incentive plan pay-outs.

The Times (£), harking back to Coupe’s We’re in the money vocal renderings, writes about the pay rise in an article headlined Sainsbury’s singing boss has a few more notes. The Daily Telegraph, also referring to his ditty when the proposed Asda deal was announced, points out the share price has fallen to historic lows. The failure of the Asda deal prompts the question of what’s next for the retailer and its “space cadet boss”, it says.

The Daily Mail also point out that finance boss Kevin O’Byrne raked in £2.2m, up from £1.4m last year. The newspaper points out that the news of the increases came just weeks after Sainsbury’s “blew” £46m on fees relating to the bid.

National Lottery sales rise but returns to good causes fall, writes The Daily Telegraph. Operator Camelot announced sales for the year ending 31 March up £255m to £7.2bn. Returns to good causes fell £600,000 to £1.6bn, with £39m of that spent on “necessary marketing expenditure agreed with the Gambling Commission” (The Financial Times £). Camelot has launched new games, tested sales of tickets in Aldi stores and at supermarket self-checkouts and made improvement to its scratch card and online games to try to attract more young people, the report says. The Times (£) notes that retail sales climbed 1.4% to £5.4bn, compared with an increase in digital sales up 11% to £1.8bn.

Ferrero has started threatening fines for workers involved in strike action at the world’s biggest Nutella factory in Villers-Ecalles, in Normandy, reports The Independent. Trade union activists have been stopping trucks from entering or leaving the factory for a week.

More than two-thirds of main retail board and executive committee members across the UK, US and Europe are white and male, a study of more than 30 leading retailers and almost 700 roles by recruitment group Green Park, law firm DLA Piper and the World Retail Congress (The Financial Times £). The report says they risk becoming more remote from their customers unless executives start treating diversity as a business issue rather than a reputational or compliance matter.

China has decided to ramp up production of infant milk in a market where global diary brands dominate. Its top planning body has laid out a plan to increase domestically produced formula’s share over the overall market from an estimated 40% to 60%. (The Financial Times £)

Staying with China, Reuters says the economic powerhouse plans to boost inspections of imported Canadian meats and meat products as bilateral trade relations deteriorate. Canadian meat industry executives said the move could have “a disastrous effect” on their business.

HMRC is probing Uber’s accounts for possible underpayments. The tax authority is auditing the accounts from 2014 to 2018 to examine the company’s use of transfer pricing. It is also looking at allegations that it owes more than £1bn in VAT. (The Times £)

The high street has been left running on empty as retail shrinks, says The Daily Telegraph’s retail editor. She says the biggest names, including Boots and Marks & Spencer, are falling over themselves to reduce their presence.

Fears grow over ‘food swamps’ as US drugstores outsell major grocers, reports The Guardian. CVS sells more groceries than Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s combined, it says. Researchers fear ‘food deserts’ are becoming ‘swamps’ of processed food.

Drivers have endured a “miserable” May with petrol prices nearing a five-year high, reports CityA.M. Prices reached nearly £1.31 per litre last month, more than 2p more than in April.

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