Astra boss under pressure to quit

PERCY Barnevik, controversial chairman of drugs giant AstraZeneca, is expected to step down early - even if he wins sufficient backing to be re-elected at the annual meeting this month.

Once one of Europe's most respected industrialists, he has come under mounting pressure to resign after the disclosure that he received an unauthorised pension payment of £60m from ABB, the Swiss-Swedish engineering group he ran during the Nineties.

Though Barnevik voluntarily stepped down at ABB and Sandvik, another engineering group where he was chairman, his position at AstraZeneca has been robustly defended by the pharmaceuticals group.

But a number of leading shareholders have expressed concern that the controversy makes it difficult for him to remain as chairman of the thirdbiggest drugs group in Europe.

Several investors have already voiced their reservations and others intend to raise the issue with the company. If a campaign delivered a sufficiently large abstention or opposing vote, the company might be forced to replace Barnevik quickly, even if he managed to survive any difficulty at the annual meeting.