Irish food group Glanbia, which saw more than a fifth of shareholders vote against its pay report at a meeting earlier this year, has promised to provide more detail on remuneration in future.
Glass Lewis and Institutional Shareholder Services, the two most influential advisers to major international investors on corporate governance issues, had advised shareholders to vote against the report at the annual general meeting in April.
Glass Lewis had reservations about a 22 per cent increase in Glanbia chief executive Siobhán Talbot’s salary to €1.05 million in 2018 as well as well as an easing of performance targets attached to its share bonus plan.
The board engaged with shareholders behind 70 per cent of its stock following the dissent at the AGM.
“Throughout the consultation process, it was clear to Glanbia that shareholders are generally supportive of the company’s approach to remuneration,” the company said on Friday.
“However, reflecting upon the discussions, the board acknowledges that there were aspects of the [directors’ remuneration report] where more detailed explanations of the company’s approach could have been provided, particularly around increases in salary, service agreements for the executive directors and certain performance metrics employed under the long-term incentive plan.”
Shares in Glanbia were hit in late July as the the nutrition group issued a profit warning as its main division, which supplies protein products for gym-goers and dieters, saw its earnings slump 30 per cent in the first half.
The group said at the time that geopolitical tensions and supply-chain issues had hit sales in the Middle East; weaker economic conditions had affected Latin American markets; supply-chain tweaks in India in response to tariffs there had taken longer than planned; and European consumers were moving at pace to buying online.
