Trinity Mirror boss leaves on the sly

Sly Bailey, one of the highest profile British Chief Executives of the last decade, is to leave her post as boss of Trinity Mirror after bearing the brunt of shareholder anger over pay.

In a statement released on Thursday night after the stock market had closed Trinity said Bailey had handed in her notice and was to leave by the end of this year.

There were the usual polite words, with the Chairman, Sir Ian Gibson, saying: "The company and the board are grateful to Sly for her immense contribution and leadership over an extended period and wish her well for the future."

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What the statement didn't mention was that since she took up the reins at the publisher of the Daily Mirror in 2003, the share price has fallen 90% and since 2008 the company has not paid any dividends.

The reasons for this are not all of Bailey's own making. Newspapers are in what may be a terminal decline but despite that, in her nine years at the top she "consistently delivered robust profits" says today's statement.

That hasn't cut much ice with institutional shareholders, appalled at the ever decreasing value of their investments and incensed that Bailey was set to receive a £1.7m pay package for 2011, when the stock price fell 30%.

One of the main stockholders, Aviva Global Investors, was reported to be ready to make their concerns public, and the Financial Times has claimed up to 25% of investors in Trinity would vote against Bailey's pay award at the annual general meeting next week.

Her resignation appears to have been prompted by pressure from the board to make significant changes to the way her pay was calculated.

Rather than suck it up, Bailey has chosen to "seek new challenges".

BS