Q and A: Why have shareholder bodies voiced concern over pay?
Q What does Christopher Bailey’s pay package include?
A His pay includes a basic salary of £1.1m, a £444,000 annual allowance on top of his salary, a one-off performance based award of 500,000 shares worth around £7m. He also has share awards from 2010 and 2013, which vest in 2015 and 2018 worth around £17m at today’s prices.
Q Why have shareholder groups raised concerns over the pay package to their members?
A The Investment Management Association has put an “amber top” rating on Burberry’s pay policies, suggesting it review the awards. Meanwhile, Pirc has advised members to vote for the report but to oppose the policy, saying it was not in line with shareholders’ best interests. The investor body said all of the directors’ potential rewards, as well as the ratio of Bailey’s pay to employee average pay were considered to be “excessive”.
Q What has Burberry and its supporters said in defence of the pay deal?
A Sources close to the firm argue that Bailey’s pay is in line with his peers in the luxury industry and point to Burberry’s total shareholder return of 448 per cent over the past five years compared to 101 per cent for the wider FTSE 100.
Q Who are Burberry’s main institutional shareholders?
A US investment firms The Capital Group and Thornburg Investment Management, JP Morgan Chase, Schroders and Fidelity.