Xero shareholders reject pay plan in 70% vote
Full story: https://grafa.com/en/news/australia/xero-shareholders-reject-pay-plan-in-70-vote
-
Over 70% of Xero investors voted against a non-binding resolution proposing to increase CEO Sukhinder Singh Cassidy's target compensation to over $25 million.
-
Groups and retail investors cited poor annual stock performance, excessive service-based vesting, and Singh Cassidy's recent complete share sale as core reasons for the pushback.
-
The board has established a minimum shareholding requirement and committed to using investor feedback to shape future compensation strategies.
Shareholders of accounting software developer Xero (ASX:XRO) voted en masse to reject a non-binding remuneration report that proposed raising CEO Sukhinder Singh Cassidy's target pay to over $25 million.
The 70.6% protest vote represents a significant escalation from last year when 48.75% of investors voted against executive compensation packages.
"The CEO’s disposal of her entire shareholding is a significant concern," said proxy advisory firm CGI Glass Lewis.
Proxy groups argued that executive incentives should reflect poor share price performance, pointing to concerns over time-based vesting schedules and the absence of minimum equity requirements.
The board stated that it took the feedback seriously and implemented a minimum shareholding requirement, while Singh Cassidy noted she still holds nearly 1.5 million equity instruments.
Following the announcement, the Xero share price was down at $82.21.
The board stated that the target pay increase was intended to bring compensation to the 50th percentile of international tech peers, including Atlassian, Zoom, DocuSign, and HubSpot.
The pushback comes despite full-year results showing a 24% year-on-year increase in EBITDA, which was overshadowed by a 27% drop in net profit after tax.
Disclaimer: Investing carries risk. This is not financial advice. The above content should not be regarded as an offer, recommendation, or solicitation on acquiring or disposing of any financial products, any associated discussions, comments, or posts by author or other users should not be considered as such either. It is solely for general information purpose only, which does not consider your own investment objectives, financial situations or needs. TTM assumes no responsibility or warranty for the accuracy and completeness of the information, investors should do their own research and may seek professional advice before investing.
