Top shareholds back Easyjet board

EasyJet founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou’s battle with the airline’s board was dealt a blow today after its bosses won the support of the carrier’s three largest institutional shareholders.

Standard Life, Sanderson Asset Management and M&G, whose holdings account for 17.54% of the airline’s shares, will all vote in favour of the board and its remuneration report at the carrier’s annual meeting next week, according to reports.

Sir Stelios, who speaks for 37.4% of the company’s shares, has made it clear that he will vote against the remuneration report. The report needs 50% of shareholders’ votes to be passed.

Sir Stelios, who founded the airline in 1995, has written to British Prime Minister David Cameron accusing easyJet’s board of softening performance targets in order to make the share payout for executive directors more easily attainable.

EasyJet chairman Sir Michael Rake recently told investors there were “numerous inaccuracies” in his recent comments about the airline and accused the major shareholder of launching “increasingly personalised” attacks on individuals in the company.

Edinburgh-based investor Standard Life, which owns a 6.46% stake, making it the largest shareholder after Sir Stelios and his family, told reporters that the strategy will deliver shareholders.

Jonathan Cobb, governance and stewardship director at Standard Life Investments, is understood to be planning to travel to the annual meeting on February 23 to make a speech in support of the board.

In addition, easyJet has received backing from M&G, which controls 6.43%, and Sanderson, which owns 4.65%.

Institutional investors must register their votes by February 21, but many are expected to be making their mind up this week.

The company thought it had seen an end to the dispute after it promised £190m (€226m) in dividends to investors, landing the airline’s founder and his family about £70m.

And the group, which operates more than 580 routes across 30 countries, sparked a surge in its share price last month when it said total revenues were up 16.7% to £763m in the three months to December 31.