Dissent lower at Irish agms

Irish directors face less dissent at annual meetings than those of companies in most other parts of Europe, according to a new report.

The study on shareholder meeting voting trends across Europe by research group Manifest showed that just 1.24 per cent of all shareholders of Iseq-listed companies dissented - voting against or abstaining - on motions at annual meetings, higher only than Belgium's 0.92 per cent.

In terms of outright objection, Irish investors 0.59 per cent rate of rejection of corporate motion makes them the most acquiescent shareholders after the British, who have a 0.27 per cent rate of voting against motions.

Voter turnout in Ireland, including proxies, is also among the lowest across Europe - at 47.76 per cent, it is just ahead of the Netherlands at 47.14 per cent.

Manifest managing director Sarah Wilson said companies across Europe needed to make "fundamental changes" to adopt pan-European standards that will allow shareholders exercise their cross-border voting rights.

The report is the first by Manifest to cover blue-chip indices in Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland alongside the UK. The data relates to meetings in 2005.