Pendragon facing massive shareholder revolt over pay at AGM – report
Car dealer Pendragon is facing a huge shareholder revolt over its chief executive’s bonus package at next week’s annual general meeting (AGM).
According to Sky News, several of the firm’s directors could be voted off the board in protest over the renumeration of its executives.
It reported that remuneration committee chair Mike Wright was looking especially vulnerable due to a recommended six-figure bonus for chief executive Bill Berman.
Over the last year, the firm, which owns smaller dealerships such as Evans Halshaw and Stratstone, has cut 1,800 staff and used millions of governmental furlough money during lockdown.
Last year around 40 per cent of Pendragon’s investors voted against the remuneration report, just short of the number needed to force the firm to think again.
But despite the warning shot, the company elected to award Berman a bonus of £413,000, triggering more voter dismay.
A number of the UK’s biggest investment advisers, including Legal and General Investment Management and ISS, said they would vote against the report.
In a post today, Legal and General said: “The remuneration committee approved a bonus payment to executives that we do not consider a fair reflection of the stakeholder experience.
“The committee reset the bonus calculation and set a performance target that only assessed performance for the second half of the financial year, which was met in full.”
The advisory service said it would vote agains the reelection of Berman and Wright, as well as the reappointment of KPMG as Pendragon’s auditors.
City PM has contacted Pendragon for comment.