Shareholder revolt: More than a third of Unilever shareholders oppose director pay

Unilever faced a significant shareholder revolt today at its London AGM, as a sizeable chunk of investors voted against its directors’ pay packets.

Over a third (35.8 per cent) of votes cast opposed the remuneration policy, which sets a target annual bonus of up to £2.16m for chief executive Paul Polman.

The company acknowledged the result and said: “Our new remuneration policy – which was approved by shareholders last year and subsequently applied to the top 3,000 managers in the company, outside the executive directors – is simpler, longer term, and requires greater personal commitment through share ownership to drive reward.”

Unilever promised to continue to have a binding vote on remuneration every three years and an advisory vote annually.

But investors chose to pass the remuneration report, despite the advice of one investor service to vote against Polman’s €2.3m (£2m) bonus.

Another shareholder meeting will be held in Rotterdam tomorow. The London AGM held today could be the last one ever held in the UK, as Unilever pushes ahead with plans to have a single headquarters in the Netherlands.

A vote on the move is expected later this year, with some shareholders already expressing frustration at the plans.

Top 10 shareholder Columbia Threadneedle hit out at the lack of engagement around the plans earlier this year.

The unrest has been exacerbated by a political crisis in Holland, where the Dutch Prime Minister has faced tough questions over the role Unilever played in a tax change.

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