Greencore Group PLC (LSE:GNC) suffered a shareholder revolt at yesterday’s annual general meeting over executive pay.
Resolution 3 on the remuneration report had 46.3% of the votes cast against after shareholder adviser firms Glass Lewis and ISS both advised shareholders to oppose the resolution.
Such votes are non-binding but such a high level of discontent is unusual and the Irish company, which makes sandwiches for supermarket chains, responded to the protest vote by promising to re-engage with shareholders who voted against the executive pay package.
Under the terms of the package chief financial officer, Emma Hynes was awarded €343,000 worth of deferred shares under the scheme, while the chief executive officer Patrick Coveney was awarded €612,000.
As it happens, Coveney is leaving the company in March, which means he won’t receive the shares.
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 investor advisory firms expressed misgivings over 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 board will continue to engage with shareholders on remuneration and other governance matters in the coming months, with a particular focus on the concerns of those that did not support the resolution at this time,” Greencore said.
“In line with the 2018 UK Corporate Governance Code, the company will publish an update on the shareholder engagement, as well as the actions proposed, within six months,” it added.
Yesterday, the company announced a share ownership scheme under which close to 12,000 workers will receive roughly £250 worth of Greencore shares each.
A spokesperson for the company said the scheme had been planned long before the furore over executive pay arose.