With the AGM season for June-year end companies in Australia now all but complete, one of the last meetings of the season proved to be one of the most contentious in terms of shareholder voting. Shareholders at Goodman Group opposed the re-election of Jim Sloman in large numbers, with 42.2% of votes cast against.

The re-election of Chairman Ian Ferrier also saw very significant dissent, with 35.08% of votes being cast against. Some shareholder advisory groups had expressed concern as to the number of Ferrier’s commitments. The Age reported that this was the highest against vote received against a chairman’s appointment in Australia.

An even higher against vote, of 44.04%, was recorded on the resolution seeking to issue performance rights of a value of A$4.5m under the LTIP to CEO Gregory Goodman. No specific performance measures had been disclosed ahead of the meeting.goodman had also reportedly angered some investors recently when he sold his family’s stake for about $45 million.

In the year to end June 2009, Goodman Group posted a net loss in excess of A$1bn and the Group raised almost A$1.8bn in new equity in August 2009.

Full details of the voting are available on Manifest VoteWatch.

Further Reading

The Age – Goodman directors feel ire of investors

Last Updated: 4 December 2009