Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell today said it had frozen salaries for top bosses following last year’s shareholder protests at its pay plans.

A €1.1bn write-down on Dulux paints giant ICI sent its new Dutch owner crashing into the red today.

The sale of ICI took a step closer today after Akzo Nobel’s £8bn (€11.2bn) offer for the Dulux paint maker was cleared by European authorities.