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LONDON: British bank Barclays on Friday said almost one third ofits shareholders had chosen not to back its annual executive payawards amid controversy over chief executive Bob Diamond's hugewage package. Barclays said in a statement following its annual general meeting(AGM) in London that 32 percent of shareholders had either votedagainst or withheld support for the bank's 2011 remunerationreport. Almost 27 percent voted against, including some large institutionalinvestors. Barclays added that 24 percent of shareholders had failed to backits remuneration committee chairman Alison Carnwath. None of the results were enough to alter the status quo but wereseen as a major embarrassment to the bank at the end of a week inwhich Barclays unveiled losses and Britain slumped back intorecession amid high unemployment. "This vote is humiliating for Barclays and will cement itsreputation as a bank that just doesn't get it when it comes toconcerns about excessive pay at the top," said Alan MacDougall,managing director of Pensions & Investment Research Consultants,which advised its members to vote against the pay awards. "The (British) government has proposed that in future companiesthat experience a 25 percent or greater vote against theirremuneration report should issue a statement to the market settingout how they intend to specifically address shareholder concerns. "Now that Barclays has seen the level of shareholder dissent itshould do the right thing and issue such a statement setting out aspecific response as quickly as possible," MacDougall added in astatement. The lively investor gathering that produced much heckling fromdisgruntled shareholders was held one day after Barclays reportedthat it sank into losses in the first quarter as a result ofenormous exceptional charges. The vote came after chief executive Diamond received 17.7 millionpounds in salary, bonus, benefits and long-term share awards forhis work in 2011, despite admitting that Barclays' performance was"unacceptable" last year. Diamond's full remuneration package was worth the equivalent of$28.7 million or 21.7 million euros. The Barclays chief executive, an American national, last weekoffered to change the terms of his latest bonus in a bid to quellany shareholder rebellion at Friday's meeting. Diamond and group finance director Chris Lucas agreed not toreceive half of their all-shares bonus award for 2011 if certainperformance targets were not met within three years. On Friday, meanwhile, Barclays chairman Marcus Agius againapologised to shareholders, telling those gathered at the AGM thatmanagement "have not done a good enough job in articulating ourcase." He added: "I assure you that in the future we will be engagingdifferently and more purposefully with shareholders in order toensure that we obtain a broader level of support on remunerationpolicy and practice." Barclays meanwhile suffered a net loss of 337 million pounds in thethree months to March, compared with a profit of 1.24 billionpounds in the first quarter of 2011. The results included a further provision of 300 million pounds tocompensate clients who were mis-sold payment protection insurancein Britain, along with other lenders, and a huge accounting chargeof 2.62 billion pounds on the value of its outstanding debt. Stripping out the compensation and other one-off costs, the bankreported a 22-percent rise in underlying pre-tax profits to 2.4billion pounds, aided by a buoyant investment banking division. Barclays is not alone among global banks in feeling the heat frominstitutional shareholders who want to curb the pay and bonuses oftop executives amid severe under-performance following the globalfinancial crisis. Across the Atlantic, shareholders in Citigroup last week refused toendorse a pay plan for chief executive Vikram Pandit and four otherofficials, dealing a blow to management that had failed to lift thebank's value in recent years. Barclays survived the global financial crisis without taking agovernment bailout, unlike major British rivals Royal Bank ofScotland and Lloyds Banking Group. - AFP/de. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as China Basket Cable Tray , Cable Tray System, and more. For more , please visit Wire Mesh Products today!
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