Countrywide’s pay row

AN INFLUENTIAL shareholder advisory firm has urged investors to vote against Countrywide’s new incentive scheme, condemning it as “unwarranted” and “unnecessarily convoluted”.

Institutional Shareholder Services issued the recommendation ahead of the estate agency firm’s annual general meeting on Aug 28, at which it is seeking shareholder approval to replace its long-term incentive plan (LTIP) with its “Absolute Growth Plan” for the next three years. It claims this will help support the implementation of its turnaround.

Under the scheme, executives could be awarded up to 18 times their salary in share awards, compared to two times under the LTIP, with the size of awards determined by the rise in its share price.