IAG facing shareholder revolt over BA share award plan - report

IAG is reportedly facing a shareholder pay revolt amid criticism of proposals for an "excessive" hike in British Airways executives' share awards despite the airline suffering big losses during the pandemic.

According to Sky News, IAG - which also owns Vueling and Aer Lingus - is braced for a substantial rebellion at its annual meeting next month after Glass Lewis, one of the major proxy voting agencies, recommended that investors vote against its pay policy.

In recent weeks, online supermarket Ocado, pharmaceuticals group GlaxoSmithKline and educational publisher Pearson have seen substantial votes against remuneration resolutions.

According to Sky, Glass Lewis's report to clients said IAG's proposal to increase chief executive Luis Gallego's maximum share award under its restricted stock plan from 100% of salary to 150% was "misaligned with the stakeholder experience".

"We expect the [remuneration] committee to show restraint in its granting practices when a company has seen a steep decline in share price," the firm said. "Further, we note that it is common practice for committees to reduce grant levels for share based incentive awards in such circumstances."