The speed with which cost savings and efficiencies introduced in the program can filter through to Shell's financial performance will determine whether the company can return to profit growth early in the first half of the year, or if that recovery will be delayed to the third or fourth quarter as some analysts fear.
Shell AGM
BP Shines Among UK Oil Companies; Shell Suffers
Shell revolt heats up
Daily Mail
City & Finance
Monday 25 May 2009 Page 60
SHAREHOLDER activists Co-operative Asset Management and PIRC have turned up the heat on directors of oil giant Royal Dutch Shell, writes Geoff Foster.
They want them to hand back their bonuses and are calling for the head of Sir Peter Job, who chairs the remuneration committee.
It follows the revolt last week, which saw 60pc of investors vote down the company’s generous executive pay policy.
Shell antagonised investors by casually saying it would take the result Into consideration, indicating there would be no climb-down on its recent bonus pay-outs.
Investors angry over Shell bonuses
Now reports suggest institutional investors are calling for the head of Sir Peter, who waved through the payments, and for the board directors to return their windfalls.
Shareholders revolt belatedly over excessive executive salaries and bonuses
Last week, oil giant Royal Dutch Shell experienced a humiliating defeat when 60 per cent of voters refused to accept its remuneration report at the annual shareholder meeting.
Shell can be sure of pumping up volume of investor anger
May 23, 2009
Patrick Hosking
Institutional investors have a new bonus quandary to wrestle with: Sir Martin Sorrell’s proposed package of up to $95million is eye-catching for all the wrong reasons.
But first they need to draw a line under the separate pay row at Shell. To recap, the board overrode the formula previously agreed to decide top executive bonuses and exercised their discretion to make an award anyway, even though the management target was missed. Shareholders this week voted 59 per cent against the remuneration report, a resounding vote of no confidence in the board’s remuneration committee.
Big shot: Investors left to wonder whether Sir Peter Job is man for the Job
But Sir Peter blundered into the minefield again as chairman of the remuneration committee at Royal Dutch Shell, which decided that performance targets previously set should be ignored and that some of the money should be paid regardless.
Corporate barons must share the pain of the peasants
Published: May 22 2009 03:00 | Last updated: May 22 2009 03:00
From Mr Peter Taylor.
Sir, Your report on the Shell shareholders rebellion (May 20) signals, I hope, a long overdue re-alignment between shareholders and management.
Since similar revolts have shaken RBS, BP, Heineken and others, the corporate balance of power is surely shifting from the barons to the peasants. Now the key reform to achieve is a direct link between executives’ remuneration and the success of their business.
In particular, executives who hope for bonuses should first agree to share the pain as well as the gain. Here the model can be private equity, where managers have a significant amount of their own wealth tied up in the business.
COLUMN-The Next incentive plan for Shell: Neil Collins
The unholy alliance between remuneration consultants, non-executive directors and company boards was dealt a bad blow this week, when the shareholders of Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) voted against the company's executive pay rewards.
Royal Dutch Shell Plc suffers a stunning rebuke at its AGM
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Shell Investors Revolt Over Executive Pay Plan
MAY 20, 2009
By GUY CHAZAN and JOANN S. LUBLIN
Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Europe’s largest oil company, suffered a stunning rebuke Tuesday when investors shot down its executive-compensation plan, in the latest display of shareholder anger over big paychecks and boardroom excesses amid the economic crisis.
Getty ImagesRoyal Dutch Shell’s board is pictured during a shareholders meeting in The Hague, with (from left) Chief Financial Officer Peter Voser, Chief Executive Jeroen van der Veer and Chairman Jorma Ollilla.
Investors take aim after Shell takes them for granted
John Kerr wasn't offered a final cigarette, but there was a moment yesterday when the former diplomat, chainsmoker and Royal Dutch Shell director looked to be facing the firing squad.
Oil titan shaken by investor rebellion over pay
Daily Mail
By SAM FLEMING
Last updated at 12:15 AM on 20th May 2009
Royal Dutch Shell’s directors were yesterday shaken by an unprecedented and humiliating defeat at the hands of their shareholders.
In the biggest City rebellion on record, 61 per cent of the oil titan’s investors either voted outright to reject Shell’s 2008 pay packages or withheld their votes.
A number of major institutional shareholders took the unusual step of attending the fractious Annual General Meeting to register their fury in person.
Shell directors suffered a resounding defeat today…
Shell investors vote down directors’ pay deals
Catherine Boyle, Robin PagnamentaDirectors of Shell suffered a resounding defeat today as shareholders revolted against their pay packages.
There were gasps at the annual meeting when investors holding about 60 per cent of the shares in the company voted against the oil group’s pay policy in one of the biggest victories for shareholders on a corporate governance issue.
Jorma Ollila, the chairman of Shell, said: We are taking this very seriously and we will be meeting with shareholders to take the right decisions.”
Under a three-year incentive scheme agreed in 2005, directors would have earned up to 200 per cent of their salaries in shares if the company had outperformed three of its peers. However, even though Shell ended in fourth place, directors decided to exercise their discretion and allow some of the award.
Royal Dutch Shell shareholders outraged at Remuneration Committee
Majority of Shell investors vote against pay plans
Tue May 19, 2009 10:20am EDT
* 59.42 pct of investors vote against pay report
* Shareholders outraged at Remuneration Committee
* Shell says to reflect carefully on advisory vote (Recasts with shareholders rejecting pay plan)
By Catherine Hornby
THE HAGUE, May 19 (Reuters) – Three fifths of Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) investors opposed the oil major’s executive pay plan at its annual meeting on Tuesday, after several advisory groups had raised concerns about the scheme.
The advisory vote followed gruelling questioning of Shell’s Remuneration Committee from angry shareholders at the AGM due to its decision to exercise discretion and award managers bonuses despite the company’s failure to meet pre-set targets.
The gravy train has got to stop
Shareholders voted against approving the executive pay policies of Royal Dutch Shell on Tuesday, giving the energy company a clear signal it had not done enough to address remuneration concerns that dominated proceedings at its annual meeting for a second year.
Shell shareholders vote down board’s pay
Daily Telegraph: Royal Dutch Shell has had its remuneration package voted down after a fiery annual general meeting.
By Graham RuddickPublished: 3:07PM BST 19 May 2009
A total of 59pc of shareholders voted against the pay deal at meetings in the Hague and London, which saw the board criticised by a number of angry investors. A number of paper votes are still to be counted but they are unlikely to change the outcome of the vote.
Shareholders accused the oil giants board of board of being in cloud cuckoo land after some bonuses were paid despite the company missing its target of finishing third in a group of five rival businesses.
Shell and Next face investor anger over pay
At Shell, investors are concerned that the remuneration committee has "moved the goalposts" and agreed awards even though the necessary performance targets have not been met. One, the Co-op, has said it will oppose the re-election of Lord Kerr of Kinlochard, who sits on the remuneration committee.