5th Jun 2015 09:50
LONDON (Alliance News) - Wm Morrison Supermarkets PLC Friday saw a substantial shareholder rebellion against its remuneration report, with more than a third of the shareholders voting against.
The FTSE 100-listed grocer said 38% of shareholders who voted did so against the remuneration report, which included a proposal to give David Potts, its newly-appointed chief executive, a long-term incentive plan for 2015 which will be 300% of his salary.
"This higher potential award reflects the requirement for David to forfeit certain on-going business ventures in order to join Morrisons immediately," Morrisons said in a statement prior to the annual general meeting.
Morrisons added its remuneration committee will be consulting with major shareholders in the company on the targets for Potts' incentive plan once Potts has completed his review of the business, which is expected to conclude by the time it publishes interim results in September.
Media reports suggested another point of contention at the meeting was a GBP1 million bonus the company is paying to Dalton Phillips, the company's former chief executive.
All other resolutions tabled at the meeting were passed by a big majority.
Potts, a former Tesco PLC executive, joined Morrisons in February and has been tasked with turning around the grocer amid tough competition in the market from German discounters Aldi and Lidl. Potts' appointment meant the helm of Morrisons is now manned entirely by former Tesco executives, with Chairman Andrew Higginson having worked as Tesco's chief financial officer in the past and Chief Financial Officer Trevor Strain the former UK property finance chief at Tesco.
Shares in Morrisons were down 1.9% to 174.9 pence on Friday, one of the worst performers in the FTSE 100.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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