Bookmaker William Hill is the latest high profile organisation to face a shareholder storm over executive pay rates, with 30.71% voting against the FTSE 250 company’s renumeration report, largely on the basis of concerns over plans to boost the chief executive’s pay
In its report on the latest annual general meeting, held yesterday, William Hill noted that ‘a significant number of both institutional and private shareholders’ lodged opposition to the advisory vote on the remuneration report, with the result that the vote against exceeded the key threshold of 20% of votes cast.
The bookmaker stated that the opposition was largely due to ‘concerns regarding the salary increase awarded to Philip Bowcock, CEO, on his acceptance of that position permanently in March 2017’. William Hill said these concerns were raised by two proxy agencies in their reports ahead of the AGM. ISS and Glass Lewis are understood to have raised objections to the new CEO having a base pay scale 10% higher than his predecessorat £600,000, up from £550,000.
The latest annual report explained the remuneration rise, stating that Bowcock was appointed as permanent CEO in March. The remuneration committee reviewed the salary, noting the CEO salary level had been unchanged since 2014 and also salaries in comparable organisations and concluded that Philip should receive a base salary of £600,000 per annum with effect from 10 March 2017.
William Hill said: ‘The company engaged extensively with both the proxy agencies and directly with its institutional shareholder base to discuss the matter. That process confirmed that whilst the majority of the company's largest shareholders were supportive, a significant minority agreed with the proxy agency recommendation.
‘The board has considered those concerns carefully, and remains of the view that the processes followed and the decision taken in 2017 was appropriate and can be justified in the context of the key events and industry challenges of last year, many of which are ongoing.
‘The board remains firmly committed to maintaining an open dialogue with shareholders and advisory bodies on key remuneration decisions in 2018 and beyond. This includes the commitment already made to further engage prior to the grant of awards under the performance share plan for the 2018 financial year.’
Report by Pat Sweet
