Business Live reported on concerns raised at AGM about inadequate executive pay transparency.
Business Live has reported that about a quarter of Pick n Pay shareholders voted against the executive pay policy at the virtual annual general meeting on Tuesday, almost triggering a JSE rule that would have required the food retailer to formally take steps to tackle their concerns.
The non-binding vote saw shareholders express unhappiness with directors’ and executives’ pay policy, which was nonetheless passed with just over three-quarters of shareholders voting in favour. Pick n Pay saw half-year earnings drop by as much as 50 percent, with the retailer citing coronavirus expenses, store closures, and voluntary severance package expenses for the dip that sent its share price down by more than 5 percent.
At the AGM, Mehluli Mncube spoke as a proxy for five undisclosed pension funds and posed eight questions related to the link between executive pay, bonuses and performance targets at the company, saying there was "not enough transparency" around executive pay and performance targets.
"It becomes difficult to judge their [executive] performance," said Mncube in the Business Live article. Pick n Pay chairman Gareth Ackerman reportedly responded to shareholders' concerns by saying the company would directly approach shareholders who had voiced dissent over the company’s pay policy.
