M&S's Rose faces stormy showdown with shareholders

LONDON (Reuters) - Marks and Spencer boss Stuart Rose, lauded for reviving the landmark retailer just a year ago, is battling to save his job after bungled management changes and a big profit warning. Newspapers have said that up to 30 percent of Marks and Spencer (M&S) shareholders will abstain or vote against Rose's appointment as executive chairman at an annual general meeting (AGM) on Wednesday. That won't be enough to unseat the 59-year-old retail veteran, but it will step up the pressure on him to spell out his plans for management succession and for tackling a slide in underlying sales which has hammered profit forecasts. "Stuart Rose seems likely to survive, but with such a sufficiently embarrassing 20-30 percent protest vote that his authority will be much weakened," Pali International analyst Nick Bubb said in a... [read full story]