The Offaly-born, John Lyttle, CEO of fast fashion brand Boohoo, continues to face demanding times amid scrutiny from regulators, media, and shareholders over allegations of forced labour in the company’s supply chain. The company’s financial performance has been bleak, leading to discontent among shareholders, particularly owing to the generous bonus provisions for its executive directors, John Lyttle and the founding duo, Mahmud Kamani and Carol Kane.
This week, the company revealed the poll results from its annual general meeting, demonstrating a noticeable rejection against two of its resolutions. Over 16% of shareholders rejected the suggested reappointment of Iain McDonald, a non-executive whose tenure has provoked dissatisfaction among some shareholders. Almost 15% disagreed with the director’s pay report.
Although these rejection percentages are not large enough to prevent the approval of the resolutions, they represent significant and highly visible signs of protest. An influential investor group remains unhappy with how the company has managed their boldly aired concerns.
Back in May, the company decided to revoke a share-based compensation proposal for Lyttle, Kamani, and Kane. The trio of executive directors announced that they would “forfeit their entire bonus for the financial year closing on 29th February 2024”. The company promised to “reconsider future interaction with shareholders on this matter “. Anticipation builds as one of these shareholders is Mike Ashley, the high street mogul and CEO of the Frasers Group, owning the departmental store, House of Fraser, and the Sports Direct chain of stores through it.
Ashley has been discreetly, but consistently increasing his shares in Boohoo during the last year, investing roughly £90 million to build a 24% stake, currently valued at almost £104 million.
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