Sorrell hit by shareholder pay revolt

SIR MARTIN SORRELL’S advertising venture has been hit with a revolt over executive pay, as it tries to recover from delays to accounts.

Nearly a third of investors voted against S4 Capital’s remuneration report, which had come under fire from proxy advisory firms ahead of the annual meeting.

Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) criticised the package for Mary Basterfield, chief financial officer, claiming it does not “incentivise long-term performance”.

ISS also criticised the absence of a cap on awards to directors, while Glass Lewis claimed the remuneration policy had the “potential for excessive payouts”.

S4 is looking to bounce back from delays that caused its share price to plunge in March. S4 has started searching for an audit committee chairman, recruited a big four accountancy firm to focus on internal audit and made financial control, compliance and risk hirings.

It came as FTSE 100 exhibition organiser Informa suffered a backlash for the third year in a row, over a pay package for chief executive Lord Carter. Two thirds of shareholders voted against its remuneration report. The pay policy is being phased out by Informa.