Concerns over Imperial Tobacco’s long term incentive plan for executives

Investors in Imperial Tobacco have raised questions over planned changes to its executive compensation structure, according to a story in the Electronic Telegraph.

Discussions on the proposals, which could allow the board to change the amount directors get in share options and awards without recourse to investors, were understood to be continuing.

A spokesman for Manifest, one of three shareholder bodies concerned about the proposals, said there were no individual participation limits associated with the plan. “Until there’s a binding vote on remuneration policy for shareholders [coming into force in 2014], there’s therefore no shareholder say on the participation limits, which means technically the company can set policy on individual participation where it likes until then,” he added.

Pirc, another shareholder body, was said also to be concerned about the long term incentive plan (LTIP). It said some of the plan’s earnings-per-share targets were not challenging enough.

A spokesman for Imperial Tobacco said that the intended limit of the LTIP awards would be 200 per cent of annual salary for the chief executive, and 150 per cent for the finance director. Alison Cooper, the chief executive, is said to have received a package of £2.69 million for the year to September 2012.

The full story is at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/leisure/9813574/Imperial-Tobacco-faces-investor-revolt-over-bonus-revamp.html.