One tenth of Centrica shareholders unhappy with remuneration

Over a tenth of Centrica's shareholders voted against the energy provider's remuneration report at its annual general meeting (AGM) on Friday.

Centrica, which provides energy under the British Gas and Scottish Gas brands, said this afternoon that 88.09% of investors voted in favour of the remuneration report, while 11.91% were unhappy with it.

Centrica Chief Executive, Sam Laidlaw, who has seen his basic pay package go up from £873,000 back in 2007 to £950,000 in 2011, on top of which he gets various other top-ups; The Guardian newspaper reported that Laidlaw's total package was worth £1.3m in 2011 and could end up being worth £4.3m if long-term performance targets are met.

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Controversial pay packages have already claimed the heads of the chief executives at insurance giant Aviva and Daily Mirror publisher Trinity Mirror, while the remuneration committees at advertising agent WPP, car dealer Pendragon and bookie William Hill have also had their knuckles firmly rapped.

BC