Another major Australian company is facing a potential board overhaul after besieged airline Qantas put a broom through its senior leadership team.
More than 40 per cent of mining giant Whitehaven Coal’s shareholders voted against their remuneration report at their annual meeting in Sydney on Thursday, leaving their executives precariously placed.
A second strike - when more than a quarter of votes go against the executive - would lead to a spill motion and a complete overhaul of the company’s leaders.
Shareholder Bell Rock Capital boss Mike O’Mara, whose firm drove the strike, said the head honchos had not earned their pay packets.
The activist investors are concerned executives will continue buying new coal mines, arguing they had recently “gambled” nearly $7 billion on “two coal mines BHP didn’t want”.
“Whitehaven has drastically underperformed on the ASX at the same time Mr Flynn receives three times the pay of his peers and this cannot continue,” Mr O’Mara said in a statement.
Mr O’Mara likened Whitehaven’s woes to that of Qantas, which is looking for a new chairman to go with new chief executive Vanessa Hudson.
Chairman Richard Goyder has announced he will quit at next year’s AGM, joining former CEO Alan Joyce on the outer after a string of scandals this year.
The Australian Shareholders' Association was among those calling for Mr Goyder to step down, declaring Qantas couldn't fix its flagging reputation with him at the helm.
“(Managing director) Paul Flynn and (chairman) Mark Vaile have both been on the board for 11 years each and, as the recent Qantas issues have shown, renewal is vital to protect both the company and the interests of shareholders,” Mr O’Mara said.
“This strike is a timely reminder that shareholders own Whitehaven Coal, not the board and certainly not management.”
Activist group Market Forces are calling for Whitehaven to show how their coal mines will be managed to meet net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
“Shareholders are alarmed at the glaring inconsistency between Whitehaven’s public declarations of support for the climate goals of the Paris Agreement and its plans to spend billions on new and expanded coal mines,” CEO Will van de Pol said in a statement.
“Just last week Whitehaven splurged billions on two second-rate coal mines ditched by BHP-Mitsubishi, in complete disregard for shareholders’ interests.”
