Newcastle United boss to meet shareholders today

Under-fire Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley is expected to meet shareholders of his Sports World retail empire today amid pressure over the firm's pay plans and mounting fury from his club's fans.

The billionaire, who has been criticised by supporters angry over the departure of Newcastle manager Kevin Keegan, has faced opposition regarding corporate governance and pay proposals at Sports Direct International.

Shareholder action group Pirc has urged investors to oppose the firm's executive remuneration report at its annual shareholder meeting, being held at the company's offices near Mansfield.

Ashley is already suffering a backlash from club fans, who are reportedly pledging to boycott his Sports World stores and are said to have told Mr Ashley not to attend away games.

Now Pirc has hit out at Sports Direct's bonus plans in yet another blow to the company, which has had a troubled history in the City since flotation in February last year.

Pirc said the targets under its incentive pay scheme for top bosses were "not sufficiently challenging" and that departure bonuses in contracts were not appropriate.

The group also said it had "serious" corporate governance concerns over the senior line-up, with majority owner Mr Ashley also acting as deputy chairman with joint responsibility for strategy development.

"Pirc has concerns that there is a concentration of power in the hands of the executive deputy chairman, who controls the company and its strategic direction," said Pirc.

Sports Direct, which owns Lillywhites and brands including Lonsdale and Slazenger, has been hammered over corporate governance issues since taking the firm public.

It has been criticised for its lack of communication with the City, failing to offer regular like-for-like sales figures, which strip out the effect of new store trade.

Its financial performance has also come under fire and the group reported in July that annual pre-tax profits more than halved to £85m (€105m) from £174.5m (€217.5m) the previous year.

The group pledged on reporting the figures that it would offer comparable store profit information on an annual basis.

However, founder Mr Ashley has failed to win over the City's affections having at one time branded unhappy investors as "cry babies".

He netted a £929m (€1.16bn) windfall on the group's stock market and has since bought back shares when the stock price fell dramatically, rebuilding his stake to 72%.

Mr Ashley also bought Newcastle United last year - paying £133m (€165.9m).