Ocado shareholders revolt over CEO bonus plan

Just under 30% of Ocado shareholders voted against its directors’ policy pay at the annual general meeting on Wednesday.

According to the AGM result, 29.3% of shareholders voted against the directors’ remuneration policy, while 28.7% voted against amendments to the 2019 ‘value creation plan’.

Ahead of the meeting, shareholder Royal London and investor advisers Glass Lewis and Institutional Shareholder Services had criticised the plan, which will see chief executive Tim Steiner pocket up to £100m over five years if the share price triples.

According to the Mail on Sunday, Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis had recommended that investors reject a proposal to lengthen the ‘value creation plan’ at the AGM. Royal London Asset Management also opposed the proposal.

Sophie Johnson, corporate governance manager at Royal London Asset Management, told the Mail on Sunday: "The company's value creation plan has the potential to pay out up to £20million annually based on a single performance metric. This effectively eliminates the concept of pay-for-performance and ensures that pay will remain high."

Ocado said after the AGM: "The board understands the concerns of some shareholders around the non-standard nature of the VCP, which was reflected in the votes on Resolutions 2 and 20. However, it continues to believe that the changes proposed and approved offer the best way to drive exceptional and sustainable growth, whilst also rewarding short-term operational and strategic decisions.

"The Remuneration Committee will keep the operation of the VCP and all other aspects of executive remuneration under review and will continue to engage with shareholders to understand their perspectives and concerns."