Friday 26 June 2015

Afren's remuneration: a long-term problem

A few years back, when I was blogging more regularly, Afren was one of the companies I always used to keep an eye on. This was because it clearly had some governance challenges, not least in respect of directors' pay.

As far as I am aware it remains the only PLC to have lost the vote on its rem report twice. The first was a narrow defeat in 2011, though with a large number abstentions, the second was when it got spanked in 2013, with almost 80% voting against.

But there had been earlier warning signs. In 2010 votes against and abstentions outweighed the vote for, though it just won on the straight for/oppose split, and in 2012, after the first defeat, it still received a 28.5% vote against.

Fast forward to this year's AGM, in the wake of major governance problems at the company that have seen the removal of certain directors and the departure of others. At yesterday's AGM both the rem report and rem policy received votes against of over 25%. But look at the abstentions - add those into the mix and the company has failed to get a majority of it shareholders actively supporting its approach to executive pay for the fourth time in six years.

That must be some kind of record!

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