SHAREHOLDERS attending oil company BP's annual meeting were met by protestors and a 15ft high inflatable caribou. The campaigners were demonstrating about environmental and ethical concerns, outside the meeting, held at the Royal Festival Hall, London. Demonstrators included a group of US students who have pledged not to work for BP, as well as the World Wide Fund for Nature, the Free Tibet campaign, and Kara, an inflatable caribou. The US pressure group was campaigning against oil exploration in the Arctic Refuge - home to caribou.

SHOE sales: Clarks has reported a surge in profits, helped by a restructuring programme which has seen it increase advertising and refit its stores. The shoe retailer said pre-tax profits for the year to January 31 rose from £36.8m to £46.8m. Turnover was up seven per cent to £937m.

LOW PAY: Pay deals in engineering firms remain at a historically low level of 2.2 per cent, figures have revealed. Settlements for the three months to March were the same as the quarter to February, reported the Engineering Employers' Federation. Almost one in four firms froze staff pay, while seven per cent deferred settlements, according to an analysis of 520 deals.

DRAINAGE DEAL: Building materials group Wolseley increased its US presence with a £77m deal for a Florida drainage and waterworks business. The FTSE 100 firm has bought Tampa's Clayton Acquisition Company, the fourth largest wholesaler distributor in its field in the US.

DFS WINDFALL: Furniture business DFS has announced a near £15m windfall for shareholders as it pledged to meet financial targets for the full year. The Doncaster group is paying a special dividend of 14.1p per share. DFS revealed pre-tax profits rose by nine per cent in the year to January to £25.7m.