Dixons Carphone shareholders rebel against executive pay deal

High street retail giant Dixons Carphone suffered a stinging shareholder revolt over pay after almost a quarter of investors rebelled at the company’s annual general meeting.

Despite the rebellion, shareholders in the company passed pay proposals which handed chief executive Alex Baldock shares worth £2.3 million as part of a long-term incentive plan.

The payout, which handed the boss almost 1.2 million shares, represented a significant rise on the previous year, when he was given 783,000 shares by the board.

The Carphone Warehouse owner saw 23.4% of shareholders vote against its directors’ remuneration report, although it was ultimately passed alongside all other 21 resolutions.

Influential advisory group Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) had recommended that people vote against the pay deal after a continued slump in the retailer’s share value.

Mr Baldock was handed an £850,000 annual salary for the financial year to April, while chief financial officer, Jonny Mason was handed a £470,000 salary.

Dixons Carphone said the chief executive and CFO both voluntarily deferred their cash bonus for the year.

Mr Baldock is currently leading the company through a five-year transformation plan after it slid to a £259 million pre-tax loss for the year to April.

Prior to the annual general meeting, the company said sales in its loss-making mobile business continued to plummet as it was hit by UK consumers moving away from longer phone contracts.

The retailer blamed a “challenging mobile market” as it posted a 10% slump in like-for-like sales for its UK & Ireland mobile division.