Restaurant Group shareholders approve CEO's mammoth pay packet

The London-listed company posted a huge loss of £86.8m for 2022 - more than double the prior year's loss of £35.2m,

Despite that, chief executive officer Andy Hornby was set to receive a share award worth more than £0.85m on top of his salary.

The company's annual report revealed that Hornby was up for shares worth up to 125% of his salary, totalling a maximum of £2.7m in 2023 if the share price appreciated.

Proxy voting advisors ISS and Glass Lewis both recommended shareholders voted against the pay proposals.

In previous years, a large portion of shareholders had expressed dissatisfaction, with over a third voting against the remuneration package in 2020, and nearly a third voting against it in May 2021.

One of the company’s smallest shareholders TMR Capital had meanwhile called for TRG to divest all its food brands except Wagamama, before taking the restaurant chain private, the Evening Standard reported.

“Whilst we are pleased that all resolutions passed, we acknowledge the significant vote against certain proposals, particularly in relation to our remuneration report, and we will continue to consult with shareholders to find an appropriate solution,” a TRG spokesperson was quoted as saying by the Standard.

“We remain firmly focused on executing our margin accretion plan and building on the strong momentum demonstrated in our recent trading update.”

At 1523 BST, shares in the Restaurant Group were down 3.61% at 47.91p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.