Rio Tinto pay sparks anger
RIO TINTO has failed to settle investor anger over its pay packages for directors, with one top-five shareholder pledging to fight on to overhaul remuneration at the mining giant.
Around 22 per cent of UK shareholders refused to back Rio’s remuneration package at its annual meeting in April, though the figures were not made public until after another investor meeting in Australia several weeks later.
In Australia, 38 per cent of investors voted down the director pay motion.
Standard Life, Rio Tinto’s fifth largest shareholder, has called on the board to bring forward sweeping changes to the pay structure, after the firm merely pledged to examine its policies over the next two years.
“We should like to see a full review of remuneration policies conducted over the coming year, with appropriate recommendations being made to shareholders at next year’s AGM,” said Guy Jubb, head of governance and stewardship at Standard Life Investments.
Governance body PIRC said earlier in the month that chief executive Tom Albanese received a 31.4 per cent salary increase from the previous year, while shareholders saw a return of minus 34.7 per cent.