One in ten investors reject Shell pay deal
OIL giant Royal Dutch Shell yesterday suffered an embarrassing investor rebellion when 9.1 per cent of its shareholders voted against its executive pay deal, up from two per cent a year before.
Chief executive Peter Voser earned €11.7m (£9.5m) for 2011, double what he took home for the previous year, despite little improvement in the company’s share price.
Shareholder group Pensions and Investment Research Consultants (PIRC) said the pay deal is “excessive” and had urged investors to vote against the remuneration report.
“Although the company pegs its salaries against its international competitors, salary levels, which have been frozen since 2009, are still at the high end of its UK listed peer group,” PIRC said.
Campaigners also highlighted the fact that Voser is set to receive awards worth 526 per cent of his base salary.
Leading companies have seen rebellions against pay deals during the “shareholder spring”, with insurance giant Aviva losing chief executive Andrew Moss after a majority of investors voted against the firm’s pay deal.
Shell also announced that it had beaten forecasts with an 11 per cent rise in fourth-quarter profit, as higher oil prices outweighed the impact of lower US gas prices.