Playtech (PTEC) shareholders have expressed their anger with the remuneration report put to them at the gambling operator’s annual meeting (AGM), with nearly two-thirds of votes cast against a pay and benefits package granting chief executive Mor Weizer €2.9m (£2.6m) for the 2019 financial year.
Playtech's shares surged earlier in the day after a trading update announced adjusted cash profits of €117m for its first quarter. The group’s core business-to-business (B2B) gambling business has experienced a significant hike in activity in its online casino, although the shuttering of sports betting outlets in the UK and the cancellation have pushed Playtech’s B2B sports arm into monthly adjusted cash losses of €3m.
Executive pay has been a contentious issue for Playtech's shareholders in the past, however, and this came to a head at yesterday's AGM. The vote was merely advisory and the result was not binding, as shareholders are asked to approved Playtech's pay policy on a three-year basis – which they did, at its AGM last year. Mr Weizer's full package rose in 2019 to €2.9m from €2.1m in the prior year.
Of the votes cast, 63.72 per cent were made against Playtech’s remuneration report. There were 199.3m votes cast overall, with 24.7m votes withheld on the issue – a significantly higher level of withheld votes compared with the rest of the resolutions, which were all passed.
Playtech said that it had consulted with shareholders on the matter of its remuneration policy prior to the meeting. “There was a mix of feedback and this will be considered when designing a new remuneration policy, which will be put to shareholders for approval at the 2021 AGM,” the company said.
The re-election of Ian Penrose, who is chairman of Playtech’s pay committee, was also met with opposition, with 32.6 per cent of votes cast against his return as a non-executive director.
“The company understands from its engagement with shareholders in advance of today's meeting that the minority vote against the re-election of Ian Penrose is solely as a consequence of Ian being chair of the remuneration committee,” the company said.
