Carnival shareholders advised to vote against boss’ lofty pay following P&O backlash
Investor advisory groups have advised Carnival shareholders to vote against its chief executive’s lofty bonus, after its “poor company performance”.
Carnival, the cruise operator behind P&O, Princess and Cunard brands, has made headlines over the past few weeks after P&O sacked some 800 staff overnight, without consulting trade unions.
Chief executive Arnold Donald took home a total of $15.1m for the year to November 2021, which includes a maximum bonus of $6m, a salary of $1.5m and $7.5m in stock awards.
Institutional Shareholder Services said “the annual bonus does not disclose any performance targets or even specific metrics used to determine payouts” and that “despite poor company performance and a lack of disclosure of goals, the annual bonus paid out at maximum”, The Times first reported.
Glass Lewis and the Investment Associated have also raised concerns, according to The Sunday Times.
A Carnival spokesman said the figure does “not represent what our CEO actually received in any given year”, saying that grants declared in 2021 would not pay out for two years and “can be reduced or forfeited altogether based on company performance and results”.
Donald’s “realised compensation” in 2021 came to $4.1m, the spokesperson continued, down from $10.5m in 2020 and from $14.9m in 2019.
“Annually, by design, 87 per cent of Arnold Donald’s annual compensation is ‘at-risk’, aligned with the company’s performance and shareholder return.”