Shareholder advisory group Pirc has urged investors in FirstGroup to vote down bosses’ pay deals at the company’s annual general meeting in Aberdeen on July 18.
Granite City-based FirstGroup said in its latest annual report “it would not be appropriate” to give chief executive Tim O’Toole an automatic annual bonus, either in cash or deferred shares, following a fatal tram crash in Croydon last year.
But the bus and rail company also said Mr O’Toole could still receive shares worth £723,415, equivalent to the performance-related bonus he would have received, pending the outcome of the ongoing tram incident investigation.
Pirc said: “Deferral of this year’s bonus in shares, vesting at the discretion of the remuneration committee, is not an appropriate use of discretion and is not supported.”
The shareholder group also criticised FirstGroup for paying its boss 35 times more than the average employee.
In addition, it called on shareholders to oppose the appointment of Jimmy Groombridge as a director, re-appoint Deloitte as auditor and the company’s proposal to issue up to an additional 5% of the issued share capital to pay for an acquisition or other “specified” investment.
A FirstGroup spokesman said: “In light of the tragic incident on the Tramlink network last November, and the investigations which may be ongoing for some considerable time, Tim O’Toole will not be paid a bonus this year.
“He will be granted a conditional share award and, in 2020, the remuneration committee will decide the extent to which any of these shares will vest, if at all.”
