A leading investor in Aberdeen-based FirstGroup is trying to co-ordinate a shareholder rebellion against boss Tim O’Toole’s £2million pay packet.
Sandell Asset Management, which owns just over 2% of First, claimed the company’s management team had been “rewarded for failure”.
Tom Sandell, chief executive of the Manhattan-based hedge fund, said Mr O’Toole did not deserve his pay rises due to the company’s underperformance.
He said he would vote down FirstGroup’s remuneration report and called on other shareholders to do the same at the firm’s AGM in Aberdeen on Wednesday.
Mr O’Toole is expected to be asked to justify his 86% pay rise at a time when shareholders are waiting for the dividend to be reinstated.
And Mr Sandell is not the only one asking questions about the renumeration.
The Institutional Voting Information Service (IVIS) has issued an “amber top” warning, which highlights a “significant issue to be considered” by shareholders.
US corporate governance adviser ISS says the group’s remuneration report is “not without concern”, though it is not advising investors to oppose the report.
PIRC, the Pensions and Investment Research Consultants, has advised shareholders to reject the remuneration policy.
It says the total potential awards under all of FirstGroup’s incentive schemes are “excessive”.
The attack on Mr O’Toole’s pay is the latest in a string of shareholder rebellions this year.
The most high-profile so far came last week when Burberry shareholders staged a major revolt in protest at a multimillion- pound pay package for the luxury brand’s new chief executive.
Results of voting at the group’s annual general meeting in London showed 52.7% against a resolution which included a £7.2million “golden hello” for Christopher Bailey, who was previously chief creative officer.
Including this performance-based shares package, split over five years, the 43-year-old Yorkshireman is in line to receive up to £10.3million a year in salary, pension, variable bonuses and long-term awards each year.