Foxtons sticks to pay policy after investor revolt

Foxtons said it would not amend its pay policy despite more than a fifth of shareholder votes rejecting the plan at its annual meeting.

At the meeting in May, 21.6% of votes opposed the three-year pay policy over a share plan, including the use of restricted shares, the amount that could be paid under the plan and too much discretion for incentives.

At the time Foxtons, a London-focused estate agent, said the vote was satisfactory but that it would consult disgruntled shareholders as required by the UK's governance code.

On Friday Foxtons said it would have had more than 80% support if one of its largest shareholders had not had difficulty voting because of problems caused by Covid-19.

The company said it had consulted shareholders about the pay policy before the annual meeting and had made adjustments based on their comments. Foxtons said it understood why some shareholders were unhappy when it put the policy to the vote and would now leave it intact.

"The board believes the policy approved at the 2020 AGM is the best structure to provide strong alignment with shareholders' interests in a highly cyclical business such as Foxtons," the company said in a statement. "We therefore still consider this policy to be in the best interests of the Company and the shareholders, and do not intend to propose further changes to the policy at the 2021 AGM."

Investors have been focusing on executive pay during the Covid-19 crisis as companies have suspended dividends, made workers redundant and accepted government support. Legal & General, one of the biggest investors in the UK stock market, warned companies not to pay bonuses if they had cut jobs or shareholder payouts or taken government funds.