Investors give the thumbs-up to pay at Morrisons

MORRISONS’ SHAREHOLDERS have voted in favour of the directors’ pay packets at the firm’s AGM, in stark contrast to last year when nearly half voted against the supermarket’s remuneration report.

The result saw 84 per cent of proxy shareholder votes cast in favour of the report. Last year 48.11 per cent of shareholder votes were cast against the report.

David Potts, the CEO of Morrisons, took home a £5.8m pay packet last year following a £3m incentive payout after the group reported better than expected results.

Investors at the AGM in Bradford gave Mr Potts a warm round of applause after the votes were cast.

The Bradford-based grocer has previously come under fire from shareholders who have protested against the firm’s incentive plan.

Mr Potts received a salary of £850,000, an annual bonus of £1.7m and an LTIP of £3m last year.

Morrisons’ finance director Trevor Strain received a £3.5m pay packet, including a salary of £596,000, an annual bonus of £1.2m and an LTIP of £1.5m.

The firm has argued that the pair deserve the bonus following the firm’s renaissance since Mr Potts took over.

Last month, Morrisons announced its tenth consecutive quarter of positive sales growth, reducing fears that it could be the biggest loser from Sainsbury’s proposed £7.3bn takeover of Asda.

Morrisons said like-for-like sales, excluding fuel, rose 3.6 per cent in the 13 weeks to May 6.

This exceeded analysts’ forecasts of 2.8 per cent growth.

Mr Potts said the star performer was the new ‘Wonky’ brand of low-priced, quality fruit and vegetables that minimise food waste and utilise more of the crop.