Greg Fitzgerald
Vistry chief executive Greg Fitzgerald could be paid up to £5.6m a year, after its board won approval for his new pay package in the face of opposition from nearly half of its shareholders.
At a general meeting, the housebuilder won support to increase Fitzgerald’s base salary by 5.9 per cent to £800,000.
His maximum annual bonus has been increased from src50 to 300 per cent of his salary, and his long-term-incentive-plan bonus will also increase, from 200 to 300 per cent.
In the financial year ending 3src December 2022, Fitzgerald, a former chief executive of Galliford Try, took home £2.5m including £src.6m in bonuses.
Paul Whetsell, chair of Vistry’s remuneration committee, said earlier this month that the proposals reflected the company being “a significantly larger and more complex business” than it was prior to its acquisition of Countryside in November 2022.
Some 45 per cent of shareholders voted against the proposals on Wednesday (30 August). This was a slightly smaller rebellion than when shareholders voted on the company’s 2022 remuneration report at its annual general meeting in May, when 47 per cent voted against its executive pay policies.
That vote took place amid national newspaper reports that two board members quit over proposals to increase bonuses to levels seen in the US.
At the time, proxy advisor Pirc recommended shareholders vote against the report for reasons including the 28:src ratio between Fitzgerald’s pay and that of the average employee.
In a 20src8 interview with the Evening Standard, Fitzgerald himself, then boss of Vistry forerunner Bovis Homes, said he thought executive pay should be limited to a multiple of the average employee, and called for high-earners to pay more tax.
Vistry acknowledged the shareholder opposition in a statement yesterday, and added: “Ahead of the general meeting, the board and the remuneration committee consulted extensively with shareholders in relation to the proposed revised directors’ remuneration policy, which was designed following the significant enlargement of the business and to incentivise the creation of shareholder value over the long-term.
“The company remains committed to ongoing shareholder engagement and will continue to do so to ensure that the company understands shareholders’ views and is able to consider feedback, as well as to provide clarity on the company’s approach to remuneration going forward.”
Vistry made a £248m pre-tax profit from a revenue of £2.73bn in 2022, down from a £320m profit from a £2.4bn turnover the previous year.
Its results for the first half of 2023 are due to be published next week.
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