Ladbrokes owner GVC suffers huge shareholder revolt against pay

GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - MAY 20: A general view of a Ladbrokes bookmakers on May 20, 2016 in Glasgow,Scotland. The high street bookmakers Ladbrokes and Coral may have to shed hundreds of jobs if their proposed merger is to go ahead, restricting competition in the business. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

Over 40 per cent of shareholders in GVC Holdings, the owner of betting shop Ladbrokes, have staged a revolt over pay at the company’s annual meeting in Gibraltar today.

Nearly 194m votes were cast against the firm’s remuneration report, in which GVC chief executive Kenny Alexander received £19.1m last year.

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The revolt came despite Alexander’s decision to forego around £150,000 of his salary in a bid to thwart the rebellion.

Last month Alexander agreed give up the majority of a recent pay rise from £750,000 to £950,000 after talks with the company’s board, and instead settle on a new £800,000 figure for his base salary.

Overall top executives collected nearly £28m in pay after considerable share awards.

GVC’s remuneration committee chair, Jane Anscombe, said: “The remuneration committee notes and is naturally disappointed with the vote on resolution 2. 

“We engaged extensively with shareholders ahead of the annual general meeting and would like to thank them for their helpful and constructive input. 

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“We understand that some shareholders ultimately felt unable to support the remuneration report, in part due to our legacy arrangements, which going forward no longer form part of our remuneration framework. 

“We will be engaging with shareholders further in the coming months to listen and reflect on their views on remuneration at GVC.  Looking forward, our remuneration policy is due for renewal at next year’s AGM and the committee will also seek to engage with shareholders during this process.”