AGM alert: Vodafone among three FTSE 100 stocks put to the vote

Shareholder returns at Vodafone Group (LSE:VOD) and Burberry Group (LSE:BRBY) will be in the spotlight when the two FTSE 100 companies hold their AGMs next month.

The shares of both companies fell sharply towards multi-year lows in their 2023/24 financial years, while the mobile phone giant also announced a new capital allocation framework that will rebase the 2025 dividend to 4.5 euro cents.

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Vodafone chief executive Margherita Della Valle received total remuneration of £4.4 million in the year, including a bonus of £1.78 million based on 71.2% of the maximum opportunity.

Burberry boss Jonathan Akeroyd got £1.35 million after no bonus was paid in relation to the company’s 2023/24 performance. 

Burberry

When: 10.30am, Tuesday 16 July

Where: Conrad London St. James, 22-28 Broadway, London, SW1H 0BH.

How to participate: The deadline for proxy voting instructions is 10.30am, Friday 12 July. More AGM details can be found here.

Who’s in the chair? Gerry Murphy, the former chief executive of Kingfisher, Carlton Communications and Exel, was appointed in July 2018.

How did the company do in the year to 31 March? Amid a slowdown in global luxury demand, revenues of £2.97 billion were flat at constant exchange rates and down 4% on a reported basis. More than 40% of Burberry’s sales are in the Asia Pacific region. Adjusted operating profit of £418 million and earnings per share of 73.9p declined 25% and 30% respectively. A final dividend of 42.7p, which is due to be paid on 2 August, compares with 44.5p the previous year and results in an unchanged full-year distribution of 61p a share.

What’s the company say about the recent performance? Murphy said the board is confident that Burberry’s strategic direction is right and that chief executive Jonathan Akeroyd and the  executive team have the “talent, energy and plans in place to deliver Modern British Luxury for all of our stakeholders”.

How have shares performed? Down 53% to 1,213p in the year to 31 March (899.8p on Thursday).

How much is the boss paid? Jonathan Akeroyd’s total remuneration amounted to £1.35 million after no bonus was paid in relation to the company’s 2023/24 performance. Adjusted operating profit of £418 million was below the £666 million threshold, while the remuneration committee decided it was not appropriate for Akeroyd to receive a payment under the strategic element that accounts for 25% of the bonus scheme. This was despite the committee judging that progress had been made on refining the brand image, evolving the product and strengthening distribution. There was no vesting under the long-term incentive scheme as the CEO was not employed by Burberry at the time of 2021’s grant. The annual salary of Akeroyd, who was appointed in March 2022, is unchanged for this year at £1.14 million.

How did last year’s AGM go? The three-year remuneration policy was approved with 91.02% of votes in favour, while the annual remuneration report got 95.60% support.

How’s the company doing on diversity? Burberry was named a top company in the FTSE Women Leaders report, with half of board roles and 55% of executive committee positions held by women. Burberry also exceeds the Parker Review committee’s target for all FTSE 100 boards to have at least one director from an ethnic minority background. During the year, the company approved a new target to have 15% of senior management in the UK from ethnic minority backgrounds by December 2027.

Vodafone

When: 10am, Tuesday, 30 July. 

Where: The Pavilion, Vodafone House, The Connection, Newbury, Berkshire RG14 2FN. 

How to participate: The company’s 40th AGM will be available as a live webcast for registered shareholders. The deadline for proxy voting instructions is 10am, Friday 26 July. More AGM details can be found here.

Who’s in the chair? Jean-François van Boxmeer, who spent 15 years as chief executive of Heineken, was appointed in November 2020.

How did the company do in the year to 31 March? Vodafone said its financial results were slightly ahead of expectations, with group service revenues up by 6.3% and underlying earnings  2.2% higher. Operating profit decreased by 74.6% to 3.7 billion euros (£3.1 billion), primarily due to business disposals the previous year, and adjusted earnings per share fell to 7.47 euro cents (6.31p). A final dividend of 4.5 cents (3.80p) a share is due to be paid on 2 August, meaning an unchanged total for the year of nine cents (7.61p). Following the sale of operations in Italy and Spain, a new capital allocation framework will rebase the 2025 dividend to 4.5 cents.

How have shares performed? Down 21% to 70.5p in the year to 31 March (69.4p on Thursday).

How much is the boss paid? The base salary of Margherita Della Valle, who was appointed chief executive in April 2023, is unchanged for this year at £1.25 million. Her total remuneration for 2023/24 amounted to £4.38 million, which is the highest sum received for the role of chief executive since 2018. The figure includes cash and deferred shares worth £1.78 million after the annual bonus scheme paid 71.2% of the maximum opportunity. The 48.9% vesting of long-term incentives awarded in August 2021 when Della Valle was chief financial officer contributed £893,936 to the final figure. Her maximum remuneration opportunity is £10.1 million, rising to £13.3 million in the event of 50% share price growth.

How was variable pay determined? The annual bonus was measured against the strategic priorities of Growth and Customers. The four on Growth, equivalent to 70% of the award, were service revenue, adjusted earnings, adjusted free cash flow and revenue market share. The Customers element, equivalent to 30% of the award, were based on Net Promoter Score and churn. The long-term incentive vesting outcome was driven by adjusted free cash flow for the three-year period, with no vesting under the measure for total shareholder return.

Was discretion used? The remuneration committee considered the incentive outcomes against  the wider financial and business performance. It said the outcomes were appropriate and that no adjustments were required to the short-term or long-term incentives for the year.

How did last year’s AGM go? The new three-year remuneration policy was approved with 95.18% of votes in favour, while the annual remuneration report got 90.75% support.

How’s the company doing on diversity? The gender split of the board is 42% female, including the role of chief executive. Vodafone exceeds the Parker Review target to have at least one director from a minority ethnic group.

SSE

When: 12.30pm, Thursday 18 July.

Where: Perth Concert Hall, Mill Street, Perth PH1 5HZ.

How to participate:SSE (LSE:SSE) has retained a hybrid meeting format. Those joining electronically via the online platform will be able to watch the meeting, ask questions and vote in real time. Responses to questions submitted by 5pm, Monday 1 July will be published by the company no later than 5pm, Wednesday 10 July. The deadline for proxy voting instructions is 12.30pm, Tuesday 16 July. More AGM details can be found here.

Who’s in the chair? Former BP executive John Manzoni was appointed in April 2021.

How did the company do in the year to 31 March? Adjusted earnings per share of 158.5p fell from 166p a year earlier but came in at the upper end of the guidance provided at the pre-close statement. Operating profits in Renewables and Transmission increased by 48% and 13% respectively while the Distribution and Thermal divisions fell by 29%. The company delivered £2.5 billion of investment in energy infrastructure. A final dividend of 40p a share is due to be paid on 19 September, making the full year dividend 60p per share. This is down from 96.7p the year before after the distribution was rebased to support the company’s accelerated investment in the assets required to reach net zero.

How have shares performed? Down 8% to 1,650p in the year to 31 March (1,785p on Thursday).

How much is the boss paid? Alistair Phillips-Davies has been awarded a 4.5% pay rise for this year, taking his base salary to £1.04 million. His total remuneration for 2023/24 amounted to £3.5 million, a year-on-year reduction of 23%. The figure included cash and deferred shares worth £1.03 million after the annual bonus scheme paid 69% of the maximum opportunity. The 62% vesting of long-term incentives granted in 2021 contributed an estimated £1.47 million.

How was variable pay determined? The 50% of the bonus scorecard that relates to financial metrics saw a 49% outturn for adjusted earnings per share and the maximum for cash flow. The operational element, which accounts for a further third of the overall bonus, scored 53%. The vesting of long-term incentives is based on the company’s three-year performance split across value creation, financial and operational. Relative share price against the MSCI European Utilities benchmark and the company’s growth in earnings per share delivered the maximum result, whereas there was no vesting for real growth in dividend per share or the customer service ranking in Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks Distribution.

How did last year’s AGM go? The annual remuneration report was approved with 94.93% votes in favour.

How’s the company doing on diversity? The board’s female representation is 42%, including one senior role.  The company meets the recommendations of the Parker Review to have at least one director from a minority ethnic group.