Burberry shareholders oppose CEO’s pay package

Burberry chief executive officer Christopher Bailey’s multi-million pound pay package was opposed by more than half of the share votes cast at the luxury goods company’s annual shareholder meeting on Friday.

Bailey, who is also chief creative officer, receives a salary of £1.1 million, plus an annual allowance of £440,000 and a pension allowance of 30 per cent of salary.

He is also eligible for a performance-based bonus and participation in the firm’s executive share plans, any awards from which will vest from 2017. He was also granted a one-off performance-based award of 500,000 shares that will vest from 2017 to 2019, worth £7.3 million at Thursday’s prices.

Some 52 per cent of share votes cast did not support the executive directors’ remuneration report.

Chairman John Peace defended Bailey's pay at the meeting, saying it was comparable with the group's luxury group peers.

“We know the amount paid to Christopher is a lot of money but much of it is performance related,” he said.

Reuters