Pendragon shareholders narrowly approve directors' pay

(Reuters) - Pendragon shareholders on Wednesday narrowly approved the resolutions on directors' pay and the re-election of remuneration committee chairman at the annual general meeting (AGM), after the company cut hundreds of jobs to get through the pandemic.

The British car dealership, which reduced 1,800 jobs last July amid a drastic drop in income due to COVID-19-related lockdowns, said only 57.58% of votes cast in the AGM were in favour of the resolution to approve the directors' remuneration.

The resolution to approve the re-election of M.D. Wright, the chairman of the remuneration committee, as a director also got a lukewarm response, with only 58.96% in favour, while most other resolutions were passed with overwhelming support.

Advisory group ISS had recommended shareholders to vote against the executive pay policy and the re-election of Wright.

ISS pointed out the annual bonus payments to the executives "do not appear aligned with the stakeholder experience", given how the company took government support through subsidies for furloughed employees during the pandemic, and had reduced headcount by 30% year-on-year.

(Reporting by Vishwadha Chander and Aby Jose Koilparambil in Bengaluru)