United Kingdom: SABMiller criticised for “excessive” executive pay

SABMiller Plc’s executive pay was criticized by a British pension adviser, which said the brewer’s $10 million compensation for Chief Executive Officer Graham Mackay and other top managers was “excessive”, Bloomberg reported on July, 28.

The world’s second-largest brewer granted awards to executives worth about five times their base salary, Pension Investment Research Consultants said. PIRC, which advises institutional investors on corporate governance, urged its members to vote against SABMiller’s remuneration report at the company’s annual general meeting this week.

Mackay was paid 6.08 million pounds ($10.05 million) last year, including 3.6 million pounds of so-called long-term incentives, while Chief Financial Officer Malcolm Wyman received 3.57 million pounds with 2.2 million pounds of incentives, according to the company’s annual report.

The executives guided SABMiller’s shares to a better performance than all of their European brewing peers last year, eschewing the major acquisitions that proved burdens for Carlsberg A/S, Heineken NV and Anheuser-Busch InBev NV in the credit crunch. SAB’s shares lost 18 percent in 2008, compared with a 53 percent drop by AB InBev, its only larger rival.

PIRC also said it had “a number of corporate governance concerns” at the brewer, including contributions made to political candidates by its U.S. Miller Brewing unit, which the watchdog says is an inappropriate use of shareholders’ funds. PIRC also criticized a “lack of independent representation” on SAB’s board.

Miller made political contributions of $245,312 last year, according to SAB’s annual report, which said such donations are “an accepted part of the local socio-political environment.” The company wouldn’t immediately comment further on PIRC’s report.

29 July, 2009