Telstra chief executive Andy Penn in Sydney tomorrow will face what is likely to be a crowd of deeply embittered shareholders at what is expected to be a very lively annual general meeting.
The AGM will take place at the Sydney Hilton’s “Grand Ballroom”, starting at 9.30am. A major item in contention is likely to be voting on the annual remuneration report, with CEO Andy Penn looking to score a $4.5 million salary, despite the telco’s dismal performance and its low share price – closing on Friday at $3.08, down from highs of $6.50 or so in 2015, not to mention $7.70 in 1999.
The disgruntled shareholders are likely to have some provocative questions on the matter of executive pay, while employee shareholders may have questions on Penn’s plan to dump 8000 of them under his “Telstar 2022” rejig.
Most are also understandably upset at the board’s decision to cut the annual dividend, on which many of the older shareholders rely.
They will certainly have their chance to register a protest – by smartphone as well as shouting and raising a hand in the vote: a note published by Telstra this week said that “shareholders attending the AGM in person can download the LinkVote App from the Apple App Store or Google Play if they would like to lodge their vote during the meeting using their mobile phone or tablet device.”
