Shareholder revolt topples head of JD Sports pay committee

JD Sports said almost 55% of voting shareholders rejected the re-election of Andrew Leslie, who had sat on the fashion group’s board for 11 years, forcing him to step down with immediate effect.

The company said it would elect a temporary chair of its remuneration committee and begin the search for Leslie’s long-term replacement.

Critics of JD Sports’ remuneration practices pointed out that the company was still refusing to repay millions in government furlough cash while still forecasting an increase in annual profits, despite the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The fact it still hasn’t repaid furlough support from the government despite guiding for at least £550m in profit this year is disgraceful. It’s even more of an insult that it is still biding its time to make a firm decision or not whether to give back the money,” said Russ Mould, investment director at financial services platform AJ Bell.

“This is an incredibly successful business which is making significant amounts of money. The furlough scheme was put in place to support companies during dark times, but JD Sports is one of many businesses which have thrived with online sales during the pandemic.”

The company accepted £86m in furlough payments for staff and an estimated £38m in business rates relief last year.

Chairman and chief executive Peter Cowgill took a 75% cut to his basic pay for several months during the pandemic taking his annual salary to £700,000 and his annual bonus for the year to January 30 was reduced from £1.7m to £1.3m.

However, he also took home £3m from a special bonus approved in 2019, half of which was paid before the pandemic and half in February 2020.