Co-op fury over steel boss's pay

STEEL group

At least one institutional investor plans to vote against the reappointment of a key director responsible for agreeing Moffat's salary and bonus.

The Co-operative Insurance Society said Moffat's 130% pay rise last year was 'highly inappropriate' at a time when the company was slashing jobs and freezing workers' pay.

Moffat's basic pay rose to £558,846, even though Corus reported losses of £419 million and laid off 6,000 employees. This February it declared it was freezing all British workers' pay.

The wrath of investors is not aimed directly at Moffat, but at Eric van Amerongen, a non-executive director.

Ian Jones, CIS head of corporate governance, said: 'Sadly, because the company is not putting its remuneration report to the vote, the only way that we can express our displeasure to the Corus board is to vote against the re-appointment of Mr van Amerongen, who sits on the board's remuneration committee.'

Jones added: 'To have such a significant difference between the remuneration practices for executives and employees poses a significant reputational risk to Corus - a risk that is passed on to staff and investors alike.'

A representative of CIS's corporate governance team will attend the meeting tomorrow to voice its protest and exercise its vote. CIS expects other investors to voice their concerns and possibly to vote with it.