Shareholder revolts at FTSE 100 firms more than double
Analysis by consultancy group Indigo shows 11 of the 56 FTSE 100 firms that held their annual general meeting between January and June faced a revolt from investors, up from just five over the same period last year.
Indigo said the rise was mostly driven by resistance to executive pay packages.
Seven blue-chip businesses had at least a fifth of their investors vote against their proposals on director remuneration reports or policies, compared to just three the previous year.
Among the most notable examples was engineering giant Melrose Industries, the owner of automotive parts manufacturer GKN.
Two-thirds of its shareholders voted at the start of May against handing more than £50million each to three former executives - Simon Peckham, Geoffrey Martin, and Christopher Miller - and £45.4million to the current CEO, Peter Dilnot.
Soon after British Gas owner Centrica, whose boss Chris O'Shea once described his pay as 'impossible to justify', suffered a revolt from nearly 40 per cent of investors over its compensation plans.
A fortnight later, about one-third of Convatec shareholders rejected a proposal to hike the maximum share award of the medical products maker's boss, Karim Bitar, from 300 per cent of his yearly salary to 425 per cent.
Almost a quarter also opposed the establishment of a new share incentive plan.
Unilever, Taylor Wimpey, InterContinental Hotels Group and London Stock Exchange Group have also experienced rebellions over executive pay.
Bernadette Young, co-founder of Indigo, said: 'Boards must be prepared for heavy scrutiny of any proposals put to shareholders, but particularly in relation to emotive issues such as pay and sustainability, where investors are more likely to take a strongly principled stance.'
She added that the uptick in revolts was 'indicative of the increasingly activist shareholder culture that we have seen develop in the UK in recent years'.
The UK Corporate Governance Code defines a shareholder rebellion as when at least 20 per cent of a firm's shareholders vote against a board resolution at an AGM.
Should this happen, company boards must detail the actions they will take to consult with investors in order to understand the reasons behind the vote.
Shareholder votes on issues such as directors' remuneration are largely non-binding, meaning businesses are not legally obligated to abide by the outcome.
Nonetheless, Young believes boards should 'proactively engage with shareholders and advisors before and after any major changes are made to company policies to ensure they have not misread investor sentiment and are not forced into embarrassing climbdowns or providing high-profile justifications for their actions'.
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