Shareholders advised to vote against high pay award for board members14 Feb 2024 21:20
"An influential adviser hit out at a £2.6m package for its chief executive, David Duffy, saying it was “not appropriate” compared with the bank’s average employee.
Pensions and Investment Research Consultants (Pirc), which advises shareholders including UK local authority pension funds, also raised concerns over what it said was “a lack of board-level accountability for sustainability issues” at Britain’s sixth largest lender.
Pirc is urging investors to vote against two resolutions at Virgin Money’s AGM on 1 March, when the lender will ask for backing for its annual report and pay report. The pay report explains how a dedicated committee of board members decided on the final payouts for bosses, based on their performance over the last financial year.
The shareholder adviser said it was concerned over the level of Duffy’s package, which includes a £331,000 bonus, and is 37 times higher than the average Virgin Money worker, who earns £71,804 a year"
Furthermore, the ratio of CEO pay compared to that of the average employee exceeds the recommended limit of 20:1 and is therefore not considered appropriate according to Pirc.
"Median pay figures – which calculate the mid-point of the range of salaries at the bank – suggest an even larger gap. According to Virgin Money’s annual report, the chief executive’s total payout was 66 times that of the £40,254 earned by the median employee.
The Pirc report comes after Virgin Money revealed a 42% drop in annual pre-tax profits in November, as it was forced to put aside £309m to protect itself against potential defaults"
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/feb/14/virgin-money-faces-investor-backlash-over-ceo-david-duffys-26m-pay-deal
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