Premier Investments: Investors in group behind Peter Alexander, Smiggle protest executive pay
The retail group behind Peter Alexander and Just Jeans is in the midst of an online sales boom but has suffered a blow over executive pay.
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Shareholders in the retail group that owns Peter Alexander and Just Jeans have lodged a substantial protest vote against remuneration paid to top executives, but the chairman says it’s fully justified, especially given a 70 per cent surge in online sales.
A whopping 48.5 per cent of votes were cast against Premier Investments’ remuneration report at the company’s annual general meeting on Friday, well above the 25 per cent threshold required to register as a ”first strike”.
If that happens again at next year’s AGM, a board spill motion will be triggered.
The report shows Premier Retail chief executive Mark McInnes’s fixed salary rose from $2.5 million to $2.75 million at the start of 2019-20, and he also received $2.5 million in short-term incentive payments during the financial year.
But he and the entire Just Group senior executive team opted not to take any pay in April when the coronavirus pandemic forced store closures and cut their monthly gross remuneration by 20 per cent in May as the outlets gradually reopened.
Chairman Solomon Lew said Mr McInnes’s bonus was a reward for record underlying earnings, up 11.5 per cent, in 2018-19.
The bonus was exactly the same as the prior year when 96 per cent of votes were cast in favour of the remuneration report, Mr Lew said.
“It’s clear that we have suffered a first strike against our remuneration report, but it’s completely unclear to me how it can be justified in relation to the outstanding performance that our board, CEO and management team have delivered,” he said after the meeting.
“What is clear is that this strike has been driven by some proxy advisers.
“I would remind them that remuneration is meant to reward performance and align management and shareholder interests.”
The Melbourne-based billionaire said Mr McInnes had steered the company through the extraordinary challenges of COVID-19, shareholders had pocketed record dividends over the past nine years and the best ever online sales performance for the first 18 weeks of a financial year was evidence of the board and management team’s strength.
Mr Lew said record trading was achieved for the recent Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales, and the group was upbeat about the rest of the season’s sales and profits.
“Looking ahead, we are very optimistic,” he said.
“Together with the reopening of borders in Australia and the recent reopening of our stores in England gives us reason to be optimistic during this all-important period.”
Premier Investments, which also owns Smiggle and Jay Jays, received Jobeeper at the peak of the health crisis when the majority of staff were stood down but has returned to full employment across its operations.
At the peak of the lockdown period, the group’s retail store sales plummeted 78.4 per cent compared with the previous period.
“The first half of 2020 saw Premier trading through Brexit uncertainty in the United Kingdom, protests in Hong Kong, devastating bushfires and floods in Australia and a continuing fall in the Australian dollar, all before we had to contend with the global pandemic,” Mr Lew said.
“During the second half, global trading was severely impacted by COVID-19, but the Premier retail team proved to be resilient in the face of adversity.
“We continued our performance of delivering year on-year record financial results while maintaining the security of a strong balance sheet.”
Premier Investment posted a $137.8 million net profit for 2019-20, up 29 per cent.
Mr Lew took no salary last financial year and owns 40.4 per cent of the company’s shares but elected not to vote on the remuneration report resolution.
“Had these shares been voted, there would not have been a strike recorded,” he said.
Originally published as Premier Investments: Investors in group behind Peter Alexander, Smiggle protest executive pay
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