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A quarter of BP investors voted against re-election of re-election of re-election of re-election of re-election, chairman Helge Lund, the biggest protest against the FTSE 100 director.
Preliminary results from the energy company’s annual meeting on Thursday showed that 24.3% of BP’s shareholders voted against Lund.
BP’s CEO Murra Auchicloss was re-elected with more than 97% of the vote, and the company’s compensation plan was approved by 95.5% of shareholders.
The vote for Lund was symbolic, but the rebellion reflected the dissatisfaction of BP’s inactive shareholders, with one shareholder asking why the board didn’t prioritize share prices.
BP’s stocks have fallen almost 13% annually, compared to a 5% decline in rival shells.
The rebellion has been the biggest protest vote against the chairman of the FTSE 100 company since 2020, with nearly 43% of EasyJet investors rebelling in the reelection of Chairman John Burton.
The last time BP suffered from such a rebellion was in 2016. 59% of shareholders voted against the compensation package of then-Chief Executive Bob Dudley.
Other individual investors attending a meeting in Sunbury near London questioned whether Lund, who is also chairman of pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk, was spending enough time with BP, and asked if he felt he had held BP’s management team to explain the company’s previous strategy.
BP announced a “basic reset” focusing on oil and gas to improve cash flow and shareholder returns.
“You’re tasked with getting an account to an executive. BP is in the press for all the wrong reasons and I don’t think the board pulled the chain to get it right,” one shareholder said.
“For 15 months, every board of directors looked into every part of the strategy,” Lund replied. “I’m devoting and I’m dedicating a lot of time to BP,” he added.
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Dame Amanda Blanc, senior independent director at BP, has promised that the search for Lund’s successor is on track and that they will reach a conclusion as quickly as possible.
“It’s for everyone’s benefit to shorten the transition period,” she said.
Prior to AGM, three of BP’s top 30 institutional shareholders said they supported Auchicloss’ re-election, as they feared it would cause more turbulence to the companies they struggle with.
“It would be very unstable to remove both the chair and the CEO. It’s not clear that Murray is the right CEO, but making so many changes is going to be a huge risk,” one of them said.
Additional Reports by Emma Dunkley of London
