Kenny Alexander, the Chief Executive Officer of the biggest gambling operator in the UK, has agreed to a massive reduction to his paycheck after facing some pressure from the group’s investors. The move comes only a week before the annual shareholder meeting of GVC Holdings, where the company’s investors are set to vote on its pay policy.
Mr Alexander, who has been heading the gambling giant for 12 years now, will have his salary reduced by £150,000, from £950,000 to £800,000. According to an official statement released yesterday, the six-figure reduction is to take effect from June 1st. The group, which currently owns two of the largest bookmakers in the UK – Ladbrokes and Coral – plus several online betting brands, revealed that Mr Alexander had volunteered to have the paycheck change after receiving some feedback from GVC Holdings’ investors.
The shareholders’ rebellion started in 2018 when almost half of the investors (44%) voted against pay schemes under which the group’s top two executives, including the CEO, got combined payments worth £67 million. Despite the newly-announced six-figure reduction in Mr Alexander’s salary, both investors and shareholder advisory agencies say the pay cut is not enough and the long-term incentive plan of the group’s CEO should also be addressed.
One of the top-five shareholders of the group, Richard Buxton, has commented that the company’s investors were concerned by what he called lack of consistency between the targets under the business’ performance and the new LTIP awards.
GVC Holdings’ Investors Angered and Concerned on Market Value Loss
The total remuneration of Mr Kenny Alexander for the latest fiscal year of the company amounted to £19.1 million, thanks to the “legacy award” associated with the bwin.party acquisition in 2015.
Apart from that, the CEO angered GVC Holdings’ investors a few months ago, when he and Chairman Lee Feldman decided to sell about £20 million of the company’s shares, which eventually ended up with the group losing about one-fifth of its market value. The sale took place only days after Mr Alexander has described the stock as “significantly undervalued”.
According to the annual report published by GVC Holdings earlier in May 2019, Mr Alexander’s pay package for 2018 would amount to £19.1 million. However, after some consultations with the group’s Chairman and the remuneration committee Chair, the CEO agreed to a 6.7% increase on his previous base salary of £750,000 instead of the initially planned 13% increase.
The company explained that the voluntary decision of Mr Alexander to reduce his salary came after a frank and open discussion with GVC Holdings’ largest shareholders regarding remuneration. The offer for the paycheck cuts was made in light of the feedback received by the gambling company’s shareholders and proxy advisers and as confirmed, is to take effect from June 1st.
- Author
Olivia Cole
