BT is hit by investor backlash over boss’s £2.3m pay

BT has suffered a shareholder rebellion over outgoing chief executive Gavin Patterson’s bumper £2.3m pay packet.

A total of 34% of investors rejected the telecoms group’s remuneration report at its AGM in Edinburgh, which included the 2017 payout for Mr Patterson.

The £2.3m figure represents a £1m hike in his annual pay and was disclosed in May, just weeks after BT slashed 13,000 jobs. Two-thirds of the job losses will affect its UK workforce.

The cuts among middle management and back-office levels are expected to affect hundreds of positions in Northern Ireland, where the firm employs around 3,100 people.

Mr Patterson t rousered a £1.3m annual bonus, a £997,000 basic salary and £299,000 in pension payments. The AGM result will see BT placed on a public register of firms in which more than 20% of shareholders have revolted over a resolution.

Ahead of the meeting, several shareholder advisory groups — including ISS and Pirc — had urged investors to vote down the award.

Pirc branded the payout “excessive”, while highlighting several of BT’s failings.

It added: “The company’s recent poor share performance, the decision to cut 13,000 jobs in order to deal with losses, and the losses brought about by BT Italy’s accounting practices are not reflected in the CEO’s remuneration.”

The company has been dealing with the aftermath of an accounting scandal at its Italian division, which resulted in a £530m write-down and a major fall in its share price last year.

Last month BT announced that it is to replace Mr Patterson later this year amid waning support for the company’s trajectory.

His departure will end a near five-year stint as chief executive, having been at BT for a total of 14 years.

BT is also vacating its headquarters in central London as part of a revamped cost-cutting drive aimed at helping to save around £1.5bn.

The job cuts will mainly affect back office and middle management roles, with two-thirds of the cuts set to fall on UK staff. BT said: “We are naturally disappointed with the lower level of support received for our remuneration report.

“Historically, both the remuneration report and our remuneration policy have received o v e r whe l mi n g shareholder support and over the past two weeks we have been in dialogue with our major shareholders and proxy advisers to discuss their questions.”