Shell investors reject bonus plan

Wednesday 20 May 2009

Investors in Shell rejected the board's bonus plan yesterday, saying executives had not achieved their targets.

During the company's AGM in the seaside town of Scheveningen, 59% of investors voted against the package, which would have given CEO Jeroen van der Veer €1.4m.

There were cheers when the vote was announced, news agency Reuters said.

The bonuses were due to be paid out if Shell's share price ended in the top three of a group of four chosen companies. Shell ended in fourth place but a Shell committee decided to pay the bonuses anyway because the difference with the third placed company was minimal.

'The system is sick and needs fixing,' Errol Keyner from Dutch shareholders association VEB told Reuters before the vote.

The vote is not binding, but Shell chairman Jorma Ollila said it would be taken into account. 'We as the board take the outcome of this vote very seriously and we will reflect carefully upon it,' Ollila told Reuters. 'We have already introduced additional performance measures for future awards reflecting comments from shareholders.'

It is the first time this year shareholders have voted down a bonus recommendation by a Dutch firm.

© DutchNews.nl

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