http://www.guardian.co.u...ing-continues-pendragon

Shareholder Spring - Shareholders Revolt

The shareholder spring continued to blossom on Thursday when the remuneration report of car dealership Pendragon was voted down – the third to be rejected by shareholders this year – and media group Trinity Mirror scraped through a protest vote over pay.

In a sign that there is no let-up in the current wave of shareholder activism, other companies endured revolts on Thursday, including media group Mecom and gaming company Sportech.

The focus will now turn to Centrica, the owner of British Gas, which is preparing for a rebellion at its annual meeting on Friday, and then materials science company Cookson and online gambling group 888, which hold annual meetings next week.

Advisory body Pirc has recommended voting against every member of the Cookson board and the Association of British Insurers (ABI), whose members represent a significant group of institutional investors, has issued a "red-top" alert – which warns members of serious concerns – at Cookson and 888.

Pendragon had also been the subject of an ABI alert to investors, while Pirc had recommended voting against the pay deals. That helped trigger the hefty defeat of the remuneration report: 67% of Pendragon investors voted against, causing the firm to withdraw its attempts to increase the potential bonus for directors from 100% of their salaries to 150%.

At Trinity Mirror – where chief executive Sly Bailey had already become a victim of the shareholder spring after resigning last week – 46% of investors voted against the remuneration report while the level of protest rose to 54% if deliberate abstentions were included.

Almost a quarter of shareholders voted against the publisher's long-term incentive plan, and Jane Lighting, the former chief executive of Channel 5, who heads the remuneration committee, failed to win the backing of one in five of shareholders. Just under 15% of investors failed to back Bailey, whose £14m pay deals over 10 years have infuriated investors amid a slump in the company's market value from more than £1bn to £80m. The backlash came despite her promise to leave by the end of the year.

Pendragon's remuneration report is the third to be voted down this year. The small gold-exploration company Central Rand Gold suffered a 75% revolt against its pay policy last month while insurance company Aviva had its report voted down last week, sparking the resignation of chief executive Andrew Moss on Tuesday.

Just like employees' appraisals, shareholders should appraise the biz management team. Hefty pay with sustained poor performance shouldn't be rewarded.

Personally I avoid firms where the top executives don't hold a chunk of shares. If they perform poorly & the market equally returns the favour, they don't feel the shareholders pain. How can one be a long term investor of such a firm while the top executives hardly want to hold the cookie jar? Unless that cookie jar is not a cookie jar...

Helo.please wakeup. this is kenya !!!!!!!!!!!!!
LOL. ati shareholder activism ? give me a break .
some of these ceos wouldn't take their company's shares even if they had a gun pointing at them !

and a Rosy Talk Make Shareholders See Red, with overly optimistic statements in company disclosures increasing litigation risks.

http://www.strategy-busi...65ff&cid=20120209rr

Thank you Mr. Analyst just dont read my comments or make lazy analysis here.

Mr. Analyst you know nothing about me...sorry, I dont wish to engage you at a personal level i will leave your thinking to your self, if thats your analysis then good for you. I will focus my positive energy and concentrate on the interesting topic that has been raised by VVS.

But it is nice to see that shareholder activism in Kenya has evolved from going to AGM's and demanding umbrellas and free lunches! The KQ court case shows this...

Look at CMC where Ndungu & Kibe sued the some of the Board & management

KQ (which Ndungu was a huge shareholder) was sued for the Rights Issue

I expect similar complaints (even if not legal) coming up

Companies exist to create wealth for the owners –the shareholders.
Even with companies adopting best codes & guidelines on Good Practices in Corporate Governance, and/or even industry legislating to set indemnities for directors (holding them liable to set limits) as is the case with SACCO’s, -these don’t exist in a vacuum.
Company’s performance and share value addition is the bottom line.

@vvs, firestone rise to 35.5 was purely because of speculative activities nothing about fundamentals its fair was abt 12 - 15 bob. that said though, it is now 1/3 of its then value so iko shinda. pan africa je? kengen?