Dixons Carphone shareholders revolt over executive pay

Almost a quarter of its investors voted against the retailer’s remuneration report at its AGM yesterday, which will see boss Alex Baldock handed long-term share awards worth more than £2.3m.

Ahead of yesterday’s meeting, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) had called for investors to vote against Baldock’s hefty share-based incentive plan.

Some 23.5% of shareholders voted against the remuneration report.

The blow came just hours after Dixons Carphone revealed a 2% uptick in like-for-like sales during the 13 weeks to July 27, despite a 10% slump in revenues at its struggling mobile phones division.

Following the AGM, Dixons Carphone said it would “seek to consult further with shareholders” to understand why they rejected the remuneration report.

It explained that Baldock and its finance boss, Jonny Mason, had both deferred their cash bonuses from 2018/19 into share awards that will not vest for two years.

Dixons Carphone said the duo “were mindful that the performance of the business and the progress that is being made with the transformation is not reflected in the current share price” and said Baldock and Mason wanted to “align themselves with shareholders”.

The retailer said: “The board welcomes the 76.54% vote in favour of our remuneration report, including the support from most of our largest shareholders. However, despite this vote in favour, the board acknowledges that a significant minority of shareholders did not support this resolution.

“Over the past year we have engaged extensively with our shareholders and the proxy agencies on our approach to executive remuneration. The views of our shareholders are important to us and the feedback we have received has been helpful.

“The committee will seek to consult further with shareholders to understand and discuss the specific rationale for any votes against our report.”