Friday newspaper round-up: Apple, BHS, executive pay, Reckitt

Billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who was among Apple’s largest outside shareholders, said on Thursday that he no longer held a position in the technology company. “We no longer have a position in Apple,” he said on CNBC, a US business news television network, adding that he still believed it was a “great company”. Mr Icahn cited concerns about China’s attitude towards the company, saying that Beijing could “come in and make it very difficult for Apple to sell there”. – Financial Times

A new era of great power competition has begun — and the US thinks robots are the way to stay ahead. That is the conclusion the Pentagon has reached, having determined that the era of overwhelming US power that began when the Berlin Wall came crashing down in 1989 ended in 2014.For the next 25 years, the US defence department anticipates dealing with two major rivals — Russia and China — a calculation that has led the Pentagon to make big investments in robots, artificial intelligence and innovation in warfighting more generally. – Financial Times

Goldman Sachs looks set to be dragged into the growing storm over the collapse of BHS. The House of Commons Business, Innovation and Skills select committee said it will launch an inquiry into what checks were taken to ensure Dominic Chappell and his consortium of mystery investorswere the right buyers of the retailer. – Telegraph

Investors intensified the fight against high pay for poor performance in a bruising day of shareholder activism at some of Britain's biggest companies. As a succession of FTSE 100 and 250 companies saw revolts against remuneration, Weir Group became the new poster boy of institutional shareholders' anger in this area. – Telegraph

Nurofen manufacturer Reckitt Benckiser has been fined $1.7m for misleading customers about its range of specific pain products, which were marketed as targeting different types of pain despite containing the same active ingredient. Judge James Edelman ordered the penalty in a judgement delivered in the Federal Court in Sydney on Friday after making the ruling of misconduct in December. – Guardian

Australia’s treasurer, Scott Morrison, has blocked the sale of Australia’s largest landholder S Kidman & Co to a majority Chinese-owned consortium because it “may be contrary to the national interest”. The sale of the company’s assets, which comprises 2.5% of Australia’s agricultural land or 1.3% of Australia’s land mass, was worth $370.7m. – Guardian

The business secretary came under heavy fire from MPs last night after he admitted for the first time that he had not grasped the importance of the Tata Steel board meeting last month on the future of the British steel industry and said that he should have flown to Mumbai to meet Tata’s senior directors. In a further controversy, Sajid Javid’s claims that he knew as long ago as mid-February that Tata wanted to close its giant Port Talbot steelworks appeared to be contradicted by Tata’s most senior UK director, who said that he was unaware of any such conversation. – The Times

It has been a bruising AGM season for a number of remuneration committees. At the Weir Group we have had our proposed remuneration policy for executive directors rejected by shareholders. The usual reaction to such results is to express disappointment and hope that everyone moves on quickly. While we are obviously disappointed and will learn lessons from the process, I also think that our example should cause people to reflect. – The Times