Cable and Wireless Worldwide (C&W Worldwide) suffered a major pay revolt at its annual meeting yesterday in London.
Around a third of shareholders voted against the telecoms company’s new incentive plan that could reward chief executive John Pluthero with £2 mn ($3.3 mn) in shares.
Around 13 percent of shareholders also voted against C&W Worldwide’s remuneration report, while 11 percent voted against finance director Ian Gibson joining the board.
The revolt was expected following heavy criticism from investors and shareholder advisory groups in the lead-up to the annual meeting.
In July the Association of British Insurers issued an amber top alert – its second-highest warning – to investors over remuneration and boardroom changes at the company.
C&W Worldwide has experience a torrid year, seeing its CEO Jim Marsh and finance director Tim Weller resign, as well as issuing a string of profits warnings.
‘It has been a difficult year for you our shareholders and I would like to apologize for that,’ chairman John Barton told shareholders at the AGM, reports the Guardian.
‘Since floating the company our share price has halved, our CFO and CEO have resigned, our reputation in the City has been damaged and we have become the whipping boy of the financial press.’
