AGL feels AGM heat on climate

Investors target power giant

AGL Energy has been hit with a huge climate protest vote at its annual general meeting where it apologised to investors for its plummeting share price this year.

However, the under pressure power giant did avoid a second strike on its remuneration report after tweaking some of its pay policies.

The power giant’s shares have plunged 55 per cent so far this year as low wholesale electricity prices slashed its profitability and raised concern over the earnings outlook for the next few years.

“Let me be very clear, your board understands that shareholders are very unhappy with where the AGL share price is today and we acknowledge that the financial performance of the company over the past 12 months is not acceptable to shareholders or directors,” AGL chairman Peter Botten said.

Over 55 per cent of investors backed an activist resolution for AGL to meet targets aligned with the Paris accord, despite the company recommending against the activist resolution.

The result was hailed by tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes as a big moment for Australia’s climate ambitions. “This is an incredibly momentous event in the history of climate in Australia,” he tweeted.

The resolution calls for AGL – Australia’s biggest polluter – to set short, medium and long-term targets aligned with the Paris agreement, a pact that aims to keep temperatures below two degrees above pre-industrial levels with an aim of limiting rises to 1.5 degrees. Following the vote, AGL agreed to consider putting the targets in place ahead of a planned split of the company into a green retailer and coal-focused electricity generator in 2022.

The Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility, which filed the shareholder resolution, said a majority of investors have now demanded AGL complies with the Paris accord, which includes phasing out coal by 2030.

AGL comfortably avoided a second strike on pay after the board decided to cut short-term incentives for executives despite some of the hurdles being met.

About 95 per cent of votes were in favour of the remuneration report, a big reversal from last year when the AGL copped a first strike with 46.5 per cent of shares cast against the pay structure.

AGL shares closed up 2.9 per cent at $5.68.