One of Britain’s biggest housebuilders has faced a huge shareholder revolt over the pay packets of top executives as City institutions told the company that its image has been “tarnished”.
Persimmon faced acute embarrassment at its annual meeting in York yesterday where a remuneration package for bosses that will enable its chief executive to pocket a total bonus of £75m was passed only narrowly.
In a stormy meeting, Aberdeen Standard Investments, a big shareholder, issued an unprecedented attack on the “grossly excessive pay” of executives.
The FT said that more than 64% of investors on Wednesday either voted against the company’s pay report or abstained from voting, the biggest shareholder revolt over pay at a FTSE 350 company so far this year.
However, as abstentions are not counted, Persimmon’s pay policy narrowly passed with 51.48% of votes cast; 48.52%t voted against.
Persimmon’s interim chairman Nigel Mill had opened the meeting by apologising “unreservedly” to the shareholders for the company’s handling of huge payouts for senior executives including chief executive Jeff Fairburn, saying that the situation was a matter of “profound regret” according to the Telegraph.
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