News round up: Apple, Unilever, Barclays, Melrose, Energy suppliers, UK retail, and Retired savers.

The $376.2m (£237m) bonus in Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares handed to Tim Cook when he took over at the helm of the iPad and iPhone maker not only made him the best-paid boss of a US public company last year, it meant he earned more than the nine next most generously remunerated chief executives combined.

A preliminary analysis of pay data by research firm Equilar for The New York Times from regulatory filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission reveals that the top 100 chief executives were paid $2.1bn in total last year, up 2 per cent on 2010. The average chief executive was paid $14.4m, more than 300 times the average American salary.

Cook's total package of $378m – which included a salary of $900,000 – put him streets ahead of the next best-paid chief executive, Larry Ellison of the software giant Oracle, who made $77.6m. In third place was Ronald Johnson, the former boss of Apple's retail stores, who was hired to run JC Penney, the department store chain. Thanks to a large signing-on bonus, he was paid $53.3m last year, writes the Independent.

Unilever

Unilever has struck a deal with two of the biggest unions representing its employes to cut pension benefits after a seven-month stand-off with workers that saw the Anglo-Dutch multinational suffer its first nationwide strikes. The move comes after the maker of Dove shampoo and Flora margarine sweetened terms during last-ditch talks with unions last month.

The unions, irked at the closure of the company’s final salary pension scheme last year and less generous terms offered by its replacement, staged strikes across the UK in December and January, The Financial Times says.

Barclays

Barclays is facing a growing shareholder revolt over the £17.7m pay deal awarded to its chief executive, Bob Diamond, after the UK's largest investor group issued an "amber top" alert on the package. The Association of British Insurers (ABI) on Tuesday sent its members, who include most of the UK's largest insurance groups and investment funds, a note raising concerns over Mr Diamond's pay.

In particular, the ABI questioned a £5.75m contribution by Barclays to settle a tax bill he incurred when moving from the US to the UK to take charge of the bank last year. The "tax-equalisation" payment has been the subject of controversy since it was revealed by Barclays last month in its annual report, The Telegraph reports.

Melrose

Melrose is on the verge of announcing an acquisition worth more than £1bn. Sources said the engineering turnaround vehicle is "close" to announcing a takeover of a privately-owned industrial business.

Speculation that Melrose is about to announce a fresh transaction has been rife since the company brought forward the maturity date of its share incentive plan for management from May 31 to March 22, according to The Telegraph.

Energy suppliers

Energy suppliers will have to tell customers who are overpaying for their electricity and gas to switch to the cheapest deal, under a new government initiative. From this autumn, the six biggest suppliers — EDF Energy, E.ON, British Gas, Scottish and Southern Energy, ScottishPower and RWE npower — will write to their customers once a year outlining their different tariffs.

They will have to inform vulnerable customers such as pensioners twice a year and also will have to offer their cheapest deal to customers who come to the end of their fixed-term contract, writes The Times.

UK retail

Britain's retailers had something to cheer about in March after unusually warm weather encouraged shoppers and drove up sales. The total value of retail sales rose 3.6% last month compared with a year earlier, following a 2.3% increase in February, according to the British Retail Consortium/KPMG report.

The rise was driven by clothing, footwear and outdoor leisure, bucking the recent trend for falling non-food sales, as consumers bought sandals and clothing suitable for the warmer weather. Footwear sales were the strongest since April 2007. The upbeat report will reinforce hopes that Britain avoided sliding back into recession in the first quarter. It was the best March performance since 2010, when total sales increased by 6.6%, helped by Easter falling in that month, The Telegraph says.

Retired savers

Tens of thousands of retired savers already drawing a pension will suffer a crippling drop in income over the next 12 months, Money Mail can reveal. A change in government rules, volatile stock markets and rock-bottom pension payouts have combined to devastate the incomes of those with a type of pension popular with middle-class savers.

These income drawdown plans allow retirees to keep their pension pot invested in the stock market, but draw a monthly income from it at the same time. The amount paid out is reviewed every few years. But those being set new payouts today are finding thousands of pounds have been stripped from their income. In some cases, monthly payouts will fall by between 20% and 40% and, in the worst cases, by as much as 60%.