Fifth of Ocado shareholders vote against CEO bonus
Currently, Ocado shares are trading at less than £4, having depreciated by more than 50% since the start of the year
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Amost a fifth of Ocado shareholders voted against a new pay scheme that would see co-founder and CEO, Tim Steiner, receive a bonus share award of £14.8m.
Some 19% of votes cast at the retailer’s annual general meeting opposed the new pay scheme, which would be awarded to Steiner if Ocado’s share price reaches £29.69 and improves its cash flow in three years’ time.
The bonus would be worth 1,800% of Steiner’s £824,570 base salary.
Currently, Ocado shares are trading at less than £4, having depreciated by more than 50% since the start of the year.
As a result, two advisory groups have urged shareholders this month to vote against the company’s proposed policy over concerns that the changes could lead to “excessive pay and an award materially above market norms”.
Rick Haythornthwaite, chair of Ocado, said: “I would simply point out he is our chief executive and founder who started this company 21 years ago with a blank sheet of paper. None of these people would have a job without the performance of that individual during that period.”
However, Ocado’s market value has fallen to less than £3bn compared with its peak of £21.6bn four years ago.
The group also reported an annual pre-tax loss of £394m on sales of £2.7bn in 2023.
