Cookson and 888 braced for investor revolt
A FRESH WAVE of upheaval against excessive executive pay is set to sweep boardrooms this week as industrial group Cookson and online gambling giant 888 Holdings brace themselves for substantial shareholder revolts.
Both firms are likely to be hit with a significant vote against their remuneration reports at their annual general meetings this week, despite steps taken to appease shareholders.
Jeff Harris, the chairman of Cookson, wrote to investors last week in a letter seen by City A.M, urging them to support all resolutions at Thursday’s meeting.
This came after the Association of British Insurers issued a rare “red-top” alert against Cookson and 888 – its strongest warning of a breach in governance.
The investor body criticised measures used to determine a long-term bonus that awarded £20m in shares to its top three executives, including £7m for chief executive Nick Salmon.
Meanwhile, 888 consulted with its shareholders in an attempt to quell a revolt at its meeting on Friday over a generous payout to former chief executive Gigi Levy, including a discretionary bonus of $500,000.
Banking giant HSBC has also begun meeting with investors to defuse a potential revolt against the size of Stuart Gulliver’s pay package.