Shareholders fight back at Punch Tavern meeting
In a sign of the times, shareholders at yesterday's meeting of Punch Tavern investors voted down the latest remuneration package for the company's directors. While there was a similar revolt last year, with 36% of investors voting against the remuneration package, this year saw a significant 55% vote against the package and hence the company has withdrawn the offer. So what is going on?
A number of shareholders were dismayed at the fact the company was putting together what appeared to be an "excessive" remuneration package at a time when the company has just announced losses of £406 million, after write-downs. In a sign that shareholders in the UK are now willing to fight back against excesses in the boardroom, the company has agreed to revisit and repackage the remuneration issue and re-present it to shareholders in the future.
While shareholders do have the opportunity each year to vote on various remuneration packages and other company issues, it is highly unusual for institutional investors not to back the board. However, it would appear, at least in the eyes of many shareholders, that the company has overstepped the mark in the short term and bearing in mind the recent large losses perhaps now is not the time to be looking towards performance related pay, which could have seen some directors receive bonuses of 200% of their salary.
Share this..
Related stories
Financial markets await news of coalition
UK financial markets are this weekend positioned on a knife edge awaiting news of a potential coalition between either the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties or the Labour and Liberal Democrat parties. It is difficult to overstate how important a quick coalition has become to investors in the UK because ultimately more confusion and delay will not help the UK economy. A number of analyst...
Read MoreOil strike announced in Dorset!
Australian oil company Norwest Energy has this week confirmed a number of potential oil drilling sites in Dorset which have the potential to unearth in excess of 100 million barrels of oil. While this is not the first time that energy companies have moved their operations on land to search for oil, it would be by far and away the largest discovery of recent years in the UK. The company has apparen...
Read MoreUK banking shares hit by fundraising fears
The UK banking sector has come under more pressure today with many investors fearful that the government will be left with the bulk of new shares to be released. The idea of the rescue package had been to instil confidence back into the sector by effectively putting the government forward as underwriter for the new share issues. With existing shareholders offered the chance to subscribe on a pro r...
Read MoreLloyds boss attracts criticism at shareholders meeting
Eric Daniels, the boss of Lloyds bank, was ridiculed at the company's shareholder meeting yesterday which was held to vote through the £13.5 billion rights issue. While the rights issue was voted through with a significant majority vote it gave many institutional and private investors the chance to quiz the company on the multibillion pound loan received from the Bank of England at the height of...
Read MoreKwik Fit Insurance Confirmed As Cheapest Car Insurer On The Market
Even though the Kwik Fit Insurance division has only been trading since 1995 it has quickly made a name for itself with a report from moneysupermarket.com confirming that of 12 million insurance quotes requested on the site, Kwik Fit Insurance was consistently the more competitive of insurers in the market. The average quote was confirmed at £277 showing that the group seem to have hit the mark w...
Read More