Sainsbury- AGM 02 July 2020
COVID-19 - Dividend - Purchase of shares
In light of the UK Government’s current guidance on public gatherings and its recommendations to take precautionary measures due to the risk of harm, the board has concluded that shareholders should not attend the AGM in person. Shareholders are encouraged to submit questions by emailing by 30 June 2020.Furthermore, the Board believes it is prudent to defer any dividend payment decisions until later in the year. In addition, ECGS recommends to OPPOSE to the authorization to repurchase shares (ITEM 19).
Board changes
ITEM 5: Mike Coupe will stand down from the Board at the AGM and Simon Roberts became the CEO on 1 June 2020. In addition, the Company seeks shareholder approval to elect him as a member of the Board. ECGS policy recommends support for the re-election of the CEO as long as the role of Chairman and CEO are separate. A CEO's presence on the board contributes to the effective governance of the company. Accordingly, we recommend to APPROVE.
Directors’ Remuneration Report
Under ITEM 2, the Company seeks shareholder approval of the Directors’ Remuneration Report. The remuneration structure for 2019/20 is generally acceptable and is mainly long-term, as the bonuses were canceled for executives. Performance shares (LTI) granted at 191% of base salary exceeded our 150% limit. However, in special circumstances where the base salary is lower than the comparison with the MSCI country and/or sector and performance conditions are very stretching, ECGS could then accept that the LTIP be up to 300% (from 150%) of the base salary. In our case, even if the base salary exceeds the MSCI country and sector, the total remuneration remains acceptable and below the total remunerations in the Retail sector in the MSCI. Under these conditions, ECGS recommends shareholders to APPROVE.
J Sainsbury is principally engaged in food, general merchandise and clothing retailing and financial services. Co. is organized into four operating segments: Retail (Food), which provides a range of food, including organic produce; Retail (General Merchandise and Clothing), which provides a range of products across home, clothing, technology and leisure; Financial Services (Sainsbury's Bank plc and Argos Financial Services entities), which provides products such as credit cards, insurance, travel money and personal loans; and Property Investment (The British Land Company PLC and Land Securities Group PLC joint ventures). At Mar 11 2017, Co. had 605 supermarkets and 806 convenience stores.
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