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Easyjet meeting votes for pay deal opposed by Stelios | Easyjet meeting votes for pay deal opposed by Stelios |
(40 minutes later) | |
Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou has lost his latest battle over directors pay at Easyjet. | Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou has lost his latest battle over directors pay at Easyjet. |
Last month, Sir Stelios blasted the board at Easyjet saying they were overpaid and directors were using the airline as their "personal piggy bank". | |
But almost 56% of shareholders at the annual meeting voted in favour of the directors' pay package. | |
However, the airline announced that it will review the way executive pay is calculated. | |
It said it will look again at targets set for management. The firm bases directors pay on a measure of performance called "return on capital employed" (ROCE). | |
Sir Stelios and his family still own around 38% of Easyjet shares, and almost all the dissenting votes were from them. | Sir Stelios and his family still own around 38% of Easyjet shares, and almost all the dissenting votes were from them. |
'A sham' | |
Speaking at the company's annual general meeting in Luton, Sir Michael Rake, chairman of Easyjet, said: "It's clear from the votes cast that Easyjet's shareholders have overwhelmingly voted with the board and we thank them for their support." | |
"2011 was a record year for Easyjet - it achieved its best ever operational performance, highest ever passengers numbers, high levels of customer satisfaction, highest ever profits and will pay its first ever dividends of around £200m to shareholders. " | "2011 was a record year for Easyjet - it achieved its best ever operational performance, highest ever passengers numbers, high levels of customer satisfaction, highest ever profits and will pay its first ever dividends of around £200m to shareholders. " |
Sir Stelios argued that the ROCE measures inflated the airline's performance, and he welcomed the review of how pay is calculated. | |
"Change is in the air!" said Sir Stelios in a statement. | |
"I think this a great victory for shareholder activism. The promise to change only came about because my shares were cast against the motion | |
"Now everyone knows that Rake's ROCE calculation was a sham and needs to be changed so that management can be measured properly and rewards made appropriate to real performance," he added. | |
Sir Stelios, who founded Easyjet in 1995, quit the airline's board in 2010 after a row over strategy. | Sir Stelios, who founded Easyjet in 1995, quit the airline's board in 2010 after a row over strategy. |
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