Activist investor Edward Bramson has lost his campaign to win a seat on the board of Barclays PLC (LON:BARC).
Some 87.2% of shareholders voted against the election of Bramson at the bank's annual general meeting on Thursday.
Ahead of the vote, Bramson -- whose investment vehicle Sherborne Investors owns a 5.5% stake in Barclays -- had told reporters on the sidelines of the AGM that he knew top shareholders had voted against his proposal.
He wanted to become a non-executive director so he could add pressure on Barclays to scale back the underperforming investment bank to boost shareholder returns.
READ: Barclays activist investor Edward Bramson repeats call to join board
In an AGM statement ahead of the vote, Barclays said: “The board unanimously does not support this appointment, which we believe would destabilise the company, particularly as we have recovered from a turbulent past and have only recently emerged in a much stronger position.
“We remain engaged with Mr. Bramson and his colleagues and are open to further dialogue. We have always welcomed shareholder input in the future direction of the group.”
Barclays plans to improve the performance of its investment bank rather than cut it back.
Bramson said fellow shareholders had been swayed by personal appeals from Barclays' incoming chairman Nigel Higgins for the opportunity to resolve problems but he disagreed with giving the bank more time.
He argued that he had seen little change at Barclays until the past six weeks, when Tim Throsby, former boss of Barclays International, was forced out.
Barclays working to address poor shareholder returns, says CEO
In the AGM statement chief executive Jes Staley admitted that “one area where performance progress has unfortunately not been reflected thus far is in total shareholder return” but the bank was “working to address that”.
“Future earnings should now be focused on returns for shareholders and investment in the growth of Barclays, rather than being absorbed by restructuring costs, capital accumulation, or litigation and conduct charges,” he said.
He said while the bank still has more work to do, the turnaround is complete and the strategy is delivering.
Outgoing chairman, John McFarlane, said Barclays has delivered a full year of “clean and respectable” profits with earnings per share of 20p. He pointed out that Barclays was loss-making and paid dividends from reserves when he joined the board in 2014.
“At the same time, we have firmly drawn a line on the past,” he added.
“The most significant litigation concluded last year, government sponsored structural reform at considerable cost is behind us, and major restructuring of the firm is over.”
Last year Barclays paid US$2bn to settle a lawsuit brought by the US government over the sale of mortgage-backed securities while the Serious Fraud Office dropped charges related to bank’s 2008 capital raising with Qatar investors.