Thursday newspaper round-up: FTSE bosses, Wilko, energy bills, Amazon

(Sharecast News) - The bosses of Britain's biggest companies will have made more money in 2023 by Thursday afternoon than the average UK worker will earn in the entire year, according to analysis of vast pay gaps amid strike action and the cost of living crisis. The High Pay Centre, a thinktank that campaigns for fairer pay for workers, said that by 2pm on the third working day of the year, a FTSE 100 chief executive will have been paid more on an hourly basis than a UK worker's annual salary, based on median average remuneration figures for both groups. - Guardian The discount retailer Wilko has borrowed £40m from restructuring specialist Hilco and rejigged its leadership team as it faces a cash squeeze after falling to a loss and struggling to pay suppliers. Lisa Wilkinson, a member of the family which controls the 400-plus store chain, is stepping down as chair to be replaced by the former Bensons for Beds chair Chris Howell. Another former Bensons executive, Mark Jackson, stepped in as chief executive before Christmas, the group's third in three years. The managing director, Alison Hands, will also leave the company this month about 18 months after taking the job. - Guardian

Investors in a £3.5bn UK property fund are being asked to wait longer for their money back after the world's biggest money manager extended a withdrawal pause. BlackRock, which manages nearly $8 trillion (£6.6 trillion) in assets, has suspended withdrawals by investors in the fund in a move that highlights the strains placed on the sector by difficult market conditions. - Telegraph

Household energy bills are forecast to be hundreds of pounds a year lower than expected in the second half of this year, falling below the government's £3,000 price guarantee after a sharp drop in wholesale prices. Annual energy bills for a typical household are now estimated at £2,640 from July and £2,704 from October, according to Investec, while Cornwall Insight forecasts £2,800 a year from July and £2,835 from October. - The Times

Amazon is cutting more than 18,000 employees in the biggest round of lay-offs by a technology giant yet. The world's largest retailer, which rode a surge in demand at the height of the pandemic, is now moving to cut costs amid cooling demand and fears of recession. - The Times