He received several rounds of applause and was even asked whether he would consider a pay rise next year, providing that in the meantime he successfully sorted out Equitable's problems.Backing for Mr Treves was also evident in that most policyholders agreed to the formal election of six new non-executive board members, as he had asked. Early indications from proxy votes showed that about five times more policyholders supported the new board as those opposed.Eleven rebel candidates had also stood, trying to gain representation for ordinary policyholders. Paul Braithwaite, one of the rebels and also a member of the Equitable Members Action Group, said to Mr Treves: "You ask us to trust you. Why don't you give some trust back to members by allowing a free choice of peer representation on the board?"Most policyholders at the AGM seemed to agree with Mr Treves's invitation to "look to the future", but there was vitriol for previous senior executives of Equitable, who were absent yesterday but who were in charge when the House of Lords ruled last year that the society had been wrong to cut payments to policyholders with guaranteed annuities (GARs).
The decision created liabilities of more than £1.5bn, leading to a downturn in returns to most policyholders. Equitable was also hit by £134m of extra costs last year, due in part because of the need for emergency advise.Mr Treves said progress had been made on the "compromise scheme", which both GAR and non-GAR policyholders must agree to in order to cap the £1.5bn liability and trigger a further £250m payment from Halifax, which bought the society's assets in February.Research carried out by Mori has found that the vast majority backed the idea of a compromise, with 57 per cent of GAR policyholders agreeing to the principle of receiving a one-off payment for giving up their guarantees.. Carlton Communications, which owns half of the ITV network, yesterday dashed hopes of a near-term recovery in the advertising market and halved its interim dividend to conserve cash, amid mounting losses at its digital television joint venture ONdigital. Carlton Communications, which owns half of the ITV network, yesterday dashed hopes of a near-term recovery in the advertising market and halved its interim dividend to conserve cash, amid mounting losses at its digital television joint venture ONdigital. The advertising fall-off was further underscored yesterday when Aegis Group, the independent media buyer, warned that clients were cutting marketing budgets, a trend it said was "particularly marked in the US" In Europe, Aegis said growth was slowing. Shares in Aegis dropped 10 per cent to 122.5p.Gerry Murphy, chief executive of Carlton, said no recovery in the UK advertising market was in sight.
He said: "We are selling into July, and based on that experience we don't see an upturn."ITV advertising levels were down nearly 20 per cent in April and May from the record levels seen last year, Mr Murphy said. That marked a further deterioration from the 6.3 per cent fall in like-for-like advertising sales Carlton reported in the six months to March.Mr Murphy said the downturn, which he pinned on major budget cuts by US multinationals such as Procter & Gamble and General Motors, was driven by concerns about the US. He added: "There is no downturn in the UK high street."The renewed evidence of falling advertising spending came as Carlton plunged into the red in the six months to March with a net loss of £283.8m, from a £6.9m profit a year earlier. A 34 per cent fall in operating profit to £92.3m was exacerbated by digital investment costs of £141.5m and a non-cash goodwill write-down related to the £1.4bn sale of Technicolor to Thomson of France.Carlton halved its interim dividend to 3.275p per share, a move that will save £22m.
