Barclays braces for rebellion at annual meeting
BARCLAYS chief executive Antony Jenkins is bracing for an investor revolt over ballooning bonuses at the bank ahead of its crunch shareholder meeting later this month.
Jenkins, who took over in 2012 promising an end to cavalier payment practices, hiked the bonus pool 10 per cent to £2.38bn despite a fall in annual profits, prompting the ire of organisations like the Institute of Directors.
The bank is anticipating the support for its remuneration policy to shrink from the 95 per cent it garnered last year at the annual general meeting, scheduled this year for 24 April.
It emerged yesterday that up to 25 per cent of the shareholder register could stage a protest over the pay rewards. However, sources at the bank suggested it had good support from most investors having consulted on policy ahead of the decision.
Jenkins, who turned down a bonus this year, previously said in February 2013 that the bank needed to “challenge the expectation that performance-related pay is de facto guaranteed, regardless of actual performance”.
Analysts say 43 per cent of investment banking income is paid out as bonus, nine per cent higher than a year ago, despite revenues falling.