News in brief: Unilever shareholders rejected a renumeration report that will see CEO Alan Jope receive $6 million because of the company’s disappointing year run.
Shareholders of Unilever Plc. rejected the 2022 remuneration report that would see outgoing CEO Alan Jope receive a $6 million payout. However, this will not stop the company from making the payment available if it decides to do so.
Although the decision is not binding, it is still a bad look for the multinational company. Non-binding investor decisions are important. As Apple’s Tim Cook showed, even when there was no legal reason to do so, he decided to take a pay cut when shareholders were not all in favour of his proposed compensation.
In a statement, the board expressed its disappointment at the reaction. According to Reuters, a convincing 60% voted against the payment.
The personal and home care products maker has found itself in the news quite often recently for the wrong reasons. In Nigeria, it had announced exiting the home care and skin cleansing market to reposition itself for sustained profitability.
In addition, its spectacular failure to secure GlaxoSmithKline’s consumer healthcare business for $68 billion also put it in a weak position with its investors. Despite posting strong sales numbers, it failed to convince them of its performance.
Following the vote, Unilever board said that they will be working closely with shareholders to listen to their feedback.
Alan Jope is set to step down from his role as chief executive officer in July 2023. He took over affairs at the fast-moving consumer goods maker in 2019. Hein Schumacher, a longtime Unilever employee and CEO of FrieslandCampina, will take over from him. Schumacher’s first task will be reinstating investors confidence in the company.
A day after the news of the shareholders’ discontent, Unilever stock dropped by 0.55%. However, in the past year, its stock has appreciated by over 21%. It has grown by more than 5% so far in 2023.
