Burberry to push ahead with pay proposal amid fall in share price
BURBERRY is expected to push ahead with a vote on Friday to award its new chief executive Christopher Bailey a £20m-plus pay deal after opposition from one of the UK’s biggest shareholder bodies hit shares yesterday.
Burberry’s share price fell two per cent yesterday after the Investment Management Association put an “amber top” rating on Burberry’s pay policies ahead of the annual shareholder meeting.
The group questioned his award of 500,000 shares worth around £7.3m subject to performance, and his £444,000 annual allowance, an increase on the £387,000 allowance ex-CEO Angela Ahrendts received.
Sources close to the firm argue that Bailey’s pay is in line with his peers, pointing to Burberry’s total shareholder return of 448 per cent over the past five years compared to 101 per cent for the wider FTSE 100.