ScottishPower shareholders grill CEO Russell at AGM |
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Published
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Mon, 25 Jul 2005 05:05
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GLASGOW: ScottishPower chief executive Ian Russell was expecting bouquets at the annual shareholders' meeting of the company last week. The reason being his decision to sell its American arm PacifiCorp. Instead he ended up receiving several well-directed brickbats form shareholders and analysts alike.
The AGM was held at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. Shareholders who had gathered there decided that Russell needed to be quizzed on several decisions that had made the company a target of ridicule and flak, one shareholder was particularly scathing in his criticism when he said, "ScottishPower went into water, and got its feet wet; went into telecoms and got the wrong number; presumably you’re not going to get out of electricity?" He was referring to the fact that ScottishPower had brought Southern Water and then sold it at a loss.
And PacifiCorp was supposed to be the flagship of the international wing of ScottishPower. Now that is going out as well. Russell sought to lessen the impact of these announcements by promising £4.5 billion to investors. This however, has not appeared to satisfy them for they appear to be tired with his shifting policies. He was also referred to as a "pig in a poke" at the disastrous meeting on Friday.
Shareholders also questioned the feasibility of Russell receiving a hefty £1.38 million pay packet when all he has done is chop and change. The shareholders were so critical that non-executive director Nolan Karras had to promise that Russell's pay-package would be downsized. His huge pay and bonuses are indeed surprising when compared to Ian Marchant, the chief executive of rival Scottish and Southern Energy, who takes less than half of Russell's salary.
This was not the end of Russell's nightmarish Friday. He still had to face irate Native American tribals who attended the meeting in full tribal gear to protest against the damage to their fishing grounds in the area controlled by PacifiCorp. They were given assurances that their problem would be looked into. Russell's only saving grace has been the performance of ScottishPower’s share price, which has risen by 31 percent over the last year. It registered a 15 percent jump in the backdrop of the impending sale of PacifiCorp.
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