// Travis Perkins shareholders almost unanimously voted to approve the Wickes demerger at AGM yesterday
// However, almost 45% of Travis Perkins shareholders rebelled over plans to offer extra share awards to Wickes bosses after the demerger
Travis Perkins shareholders have given the thumbs-up to plans to spin off its Wickes retail business.
Investors in the London-listed DIY and hardware merchant and retailer almost unanimously voted to approve the demerger at Travis Perkins’ AGM yesterday.
It said that 197,759,462 of votes, representing 99.9 per cent of shareholders, voted in favour.
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However, Travis Perkins suffered a bloody nose from shareholders who rebelled over its plans to offer extra share awards to Wickes bosses after the demerger is completed.
It said that 44.7 per cent of shareholder votes were cast against the plan, which could see the chief executive officer receiving a long-term incentives worth 175 per cent of their salary, with another long-term award for its finance chief.
The incentive deal was criticised by shareholder advisory body ISS, which initially called on investors to reject the move.
However, ISS later revised its recommendation after discussions with Wickes.
It has been more than a year since Travis Perkins first outlined plans to demerge Wickes, although the move was paused after the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in the UK.
Last month, Travis Perkins said it was restarting the spin-off and that most of the preparations had already been completed before the move was paused.
Earlier this month, the company, which also owns the ToolStation chain, said sales ticked higher at the start of 2021 as it continued strong momentum from the second half of last year.
Travis Perkins saw its like-for-like sales rise by 17.4 per cent in the opening three months of the year, as it was propelled by 42 per cent growth at Toolstation.
Total sales growth for the business was 6.8 per cent compared to the same period last year.
Companies in the space have benefitted from increased house buying in recent months, after the UK Government paused stamp duty on some deals.
with PA Wires
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