LONDON (Alliance News) - ITE Group PLC said a significant number of shareholders at its annual general meeting on Thursday opposed its remuneration policy and share plan changes, as well as a board appointment.
ITE' shares were trading 5.5% lower on Thursday at 57.77 pence each.
The company's issued capital was 741.6 million shares, with proxies representing 636.0 million shares present for the AGM.
For the resolution to elect Richard Last as director, there were 154.3 million votes against the move and 479.4 million in favour while 2.2 million votes were abstained.
ITE organises exhibitions and conferences and its board noted shareholder concerns that Last "serves on too many company boards". Nonetheless, the ITE board asserted that it was "of the unanimous view that Richard is able to devote the necessary time to ITE notwithstanding his other commitments".
In terms of its remuneration policy, there were 231.2 million votes against approving the new policy and 404.8 million in favour. In addition, there were 230.3 million votes against the amended share performance plan and 405.6 million in favour.
This dissent was noted by the board, which said it understood concerns over the size of the 2019 performance share plan award for executive directors.
"The remuneration committee undertook an extensive consultation exercise with major shareholders and proxy voting agencies on the terms of the [performance share plan] proposal and believes that the award is an appropriate incentive for the management team for the next three-year period and that the policy is aligned with shareholders interests. Full vesting of the award will depend upon the satisfaction of exceptionally challenging performance conditions and the achievement of a minimum share price underpin, delivering value to shareholders," said the board of ITE.
Earlier in the day, the firm reported that its revenue growth in the first quarter of its financial year had been hurt by venue capacity constraints at one of its events in India and disposal of operations in Russia.
The company said it traded in line with expectations in the three months to the end of December 2018, with revenue on the like-for-like basis up 6% year-on-year.
The company said its performance was hurt by temporary venue capacity constraints at Acetech Delhi, an event for businesses from the building and interiors industry. Excluding Acetech Delhi, ITE's like-for-like revenue growth was 10% in the first quarter.
Revenue for the period totalled GBP31.5 million, down from GBP40.7 million reported a year prior. The decrease was largely due the absence of the non-core events in Russia, which were divested in early October 2018.
In December, ITE Group closed its Siberian operation, which ran 17 non-core events in financial 2018. The region had consistently made losses in the past four years, the company explained.
Looking ahead, ITE Group said it continues to benefit from the investments into products and operational improvements despite challenging micro-economic environment.
On a like-for-like basis, the company said its revenue is currently 8% ahead of this time last year.
And Anna Farley; annafarley@alliancenews.com
