Burberry investors vote down Bailey's pay package

LONDON - Burberry Chief Executive Christopher Bailey's multimillion-pound pay package was opposed by more than half of the votes cast in a non-binding ballot at the luxury goods company's annual shareholder meeting on Friday.

Bailey, who is also chief creative officer of the British brand, receives a salary of 1.1 million pounds, plus a 440,000 pound annual allowance and pension contributions equivalent to 30 percent of salary.

He is also eligible for a performance-based bonus and participation in executive share plans, any awards from which will vest from 2017. In addition, Bailey was granted a one-off performance-based award of 500,000 shares, which will vest from 2017 to 2019, worth 7.3 million pounds at Thursday's prices.

Of the votes cast, 52 percent did not support the directors' remuneration report.

Chairman John Peace told reporters after the result: "I am disappointed (the vote for) is as low as it is, and I need to talk to some shareholders."

Peace had earlier defended Bailey's pay at the meeting, saying it was comparable with that at other luxury groups.

"We know the amount paid to Christopher is a lot of money, but much of it is performance-related," he said.

Bailey officially took over at the 158-year-old business on May 1 after Angela Ahrendts left the company famous for its camel, black and red-checked designs to join U.S. technology giant Apple. Ahrendts took home 6.8 million pounds in Burberry's 2012/13 financial year.

Britain's Investment Management Association had expressed its concern over Burberry's pay policies, noting Bailey's 500,000-share bonus award in particular.

Bailey had already received multimillion-pound share bonuses, including 350,000 shares in 2010 and one million shares in 2013, to keep him at the company. These will vest between 2015 and 2018 and are worth 19.8 million pounds at Thursday's closing share price.

Peace pointed out that 84 percent of votes cast were in favour of a separate binding resolution on the group's forward pay policy.

On Thursday Burberry reported faster than expected sales growth in its financial first quarter but warned that a strong pound would hit profit this year.