A third proxy advisor has called for shareholders to vote against Mike Ashley’s re-appointment as chief executive of Sports Direct at its upcoming annual general meeting (AGM).
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) has joined advisory firms Glass Lewis and Pirc in advising Sports Direct shareholders against Ashley’s re-election as a director of the company at its AGM next month.
ISS said supporting Ashley is “not considered warranted in light of ongoing operational, governance and risk oversight concerns”, including the retailer’s auditor Grant Thornton stepping down following an eleventh-hour €674m tax bill that delayed the retailer’s full-year results.
ISS added that Sports Direct’s acquisition of House of Fraser last August, which was described as “terminal” in the company’s latest annual results, had “led to concerns about the company’s viability as a whole”.
ISS’ points echo earlier concerns raised by Glass Lewis and Pirc respectively, as the former said Ashley is “inextricably linked with myriad controversies, past and ongoing”, while the latter warned that shareholders “faced a decline in profitability, loss of value for their shares [and] no dividend distribution” if Ashley was re-elected.
Ashley owns 61% of Sports Direct’s issued share
No comments yet