AZN AstraZeneca – Company Information and Vote Guidance
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Whilst the CEO’s remuneration may be high, as a fellow shareholder I find it hard to begrudge him his award. IMO he has done a phenomenal job since he was appointed to the role. When he took over, Astra was a company in trouble, facing a “patent expiry cliff edge”. He took the bold decision to cancel the company’s share buyback programme and invest the free cashflow in research instead, with a promise to return the company to a growth path. That promise is now being delivered with multiple new “blockbuster” drugs now in the market, generating growth in revenues and profits (and better treatments for patients), and several more potential blockbusters in the pipeline.
Big article in Mail on Sunday https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-9556845/Furious-AstraZeneca-pay-clash-rocks-City-Clash-bonus-hike.html
Furious AstraZeneca pay clash rocks City: Top investors at loggerheads over £2.3m bonus hike for boss Pascal Soriot who delivered jabs triumph
Soriot is at the centre of an extraordinary row among City investors over his multi-million-pound bonus
The plan could take his overall pay, which includes his £1.3million salary and other perks, well above the £15.4million he received last year
Two top shareholders – Aviva Investors and Standard Life Aberdeen – have already voted to block the proposals ahead of the company’s annual meeting.
The French chief executive has been lauded for rolling out Astra’s life-saving Covid vaccine at no profit, as well as fighting off predatory buyers and boosting the company’s share price since he took charge in 2012.
But Astra’s major shareholders are understood to have been locked in heated talks for days after the drugs giant proposed to boost his bonus and performance-related share award by £2.3million to £12million. The award could be worth even more if the share price rises.
The plan could take his overall pay, which includes his £1.3million salary and other perks, well above the £15.4million he received last year.
The Mail on Sunday can reveal that two top shareholders – Aviva Investors and Standard Life Aberdeen – have already voted to block the proposals ahead of the company’s annual meeting on Tuesday. One said the pay hike threatened to ‘tarnish’ the £101 billion pharmaceutical firm’s reputation after its triumph in delivering an affordable Covid vaccine for the world.