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11-Feb-2011 11:59 AM

easyJet's largest shareholder to vote against resolution on directors' pay

easyJet's largest shareholder and founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou stated he would vote against a resolution to approve directors' pay at the airline's AGM on 17-Feb-2011 and wrote to Chairman Michael Rake to complain that he was not consulted by interim Chairman, Sir David Michels, on former CEO Andy Harrison's pay agreement covering the 01-Apr-2010 to 30-Sep-2010 period (Reuters/Press Association/Management Today/The Guardian, 10-Feb-2011). Mr Harrison received GBP750,000 for the period and a GBP250,000 bonus. He also received a GBP1.2 million retention bonus for the period after he resigned. Sir Stelios added that he would abstain from voting on a resolution to re-elect Mr Michels as a director of the company.

easyJet: "The main criticism against David (Michels) is that by insulating the pay of Harrison from the actual results in the 2009 deal, he gave the CEO the right to destroy shareholder value in the summer of 2010 with impunity," Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, largest shareholder. Source: Reuters, 10-Feb-2011.

easyJet: "As chief executive of easyJet, my job was to implement the strategy agreed by the board. All aspects of my remuneration were determined by the remuneration committee and to the best of my knowledge were communicated to the full board," Andy Harrison, former CEO. Source: Reuters, 10-Feb-2011.

easyJet: "This problem emerged as a result of an agreement between Mr Harrison and the then interim chairman, Sir David Michels, in the latter part of 2009. At that time, I was still a director of the company and, as such, unable to comment publicly on these matters. Now, roughly a year and a half later, after these payments have long since been made and I am no longer an insider, I have the right to voice my concern as a shareholder at the annual general meeting," Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, shareholder. Source: Press Association, 10-Feb-2011.

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