Irish convenience foods maker Greencore Group PLC (LSE:GNC) announced a shares giveaway for employees in what some might see as a tactic to divert attention away from management remuneration.
The company said its “ "Be Part of Something Better" share ownership scheme and colleague wellbeing centre is designed to recognise the diligent work of Greencore colleagues in supporting the needs of customers on a daily basis.
Under the share ownership scheme, close to 12,000 workers will receive roughly £250 worth of Greencore shares each.
That pales into insignificance compared to the €343,000 in share-based bonuses chief financial officer Emma Hynes received last year, or the €612,000 its chief executive, Patrick Coveney, would have trousered as a bonus had he not decided to jump ship to catering firm SSP.
Those bonuses have attracted the ire of shareholder adviser firms Glass Lewis and ISS, both of which have called on shareholders to reject the remuneration report at today’s annual general meeting.
Both firms are dubious about whether such levels of largesse are appropriate given the company received £21.3mln in 2020 from the government’s furlough scheme and a further £8.7mln in 2021, according to The Guardian newspaper.
The foods group, which provides sandwiches to supermarkets, revealed this morning that its revenues (on a pro forma basis) in the 13 weeks to 24 December 2021 were up 7.5% on the same (pre-pandemic) period of 2019.