BT boss takes a mauling at AGM


Another of Britain's top industrialists has been forced to dodge the flak as British Telecom shareholders go on the offensive. Chairman Sir Iain Vallance faced a barrage of criticism at the annual meeting over BT's poor share price performance.

It was the second day running that his deputy, Lord Marshall of Knightsbridge, faced the wrath of investors. Twenty-four hours earlier, he got a mauling as British Airways' chairman.

A succession of unhappy BT shareholders took the microphone at the Manchester meeting to criticise the board's failure to halt the slide in its shares, down 18p to 900p, against December's 1513p. They demanded assurances that a new performance-related incentive scheme would not provide a gravy train for directors.

'The results produced by the board have not been successful so far,' complained one. Another pensioner, complaining about poor service, said: 'When a fish starts to go off, it starts from the head.'

But it was a relatively low-key rebellion compared to recent attacks by institutional investors and analysts. Sir Iain said markets had 'reduced their perceived values' for tech stocks and telecom stock prices around the world had fallen 'significantly' from their peaks. But over three years BT's total return ranked among the top 30 FTSE stocks.

Meanwhile,Vodafone backed down a little over the controversial £10m bonus for chief executive Chris Gent, declaring that 'no such bonuses will be paid in future'. The board pay committee accepted that concluding a deal should not in itself be 'performance that should be rewarded'.

BT boss takes a mauling at AGM

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