Persimmon says sorry in face of pay row anger

Persimmon's chairman on Wednesday apologised “unreservedly” over its handling of the furious pay row which engulfed the housebuilder this year as the firm took a bloody nose from investors at its annual meeting.

The company faced a storm over a long-term share scheme that landed chief executive Jeff Fairburn a £100 million windfall as well as huge payouts for other directors, who have since given up part of their bonanza. Previous chairman Nicholas Wrigley quit in December over the failure to impose a cap on the scheme.

Investors who backed the payouts in 2012 before the Government’s Help to Buy scheme sent the housing market — and housebuilders’ shares — soaring have been furious over the size of the awards. They registered a significant revolt at today’s meeting, with more than 40% of shares going against the company in an advisory vote on pay.

Acting chairman Nigel Mills said: “I recognise that there has been significant strength of feeling from some shareholders over this issue. And so please let me take this opportunity to apologise unreservedly to our shareholders. This could have all have been handled better. Indeed it should have been.

“It is a matter of profound regret that we got to the position where we had a company with an exceptional management team, delivering exceptional, market-beating performance, that has been overshadowed by a row over pay.”

He added that the company was focused on “putting the issue behind us” and said: “We have spent a lot of time rebuilding relationships with shareholders where needed and to help the business move forward.”

Shares rose 20p to 2710p as the firm reported “encouraging” trading and forward sales of £2.8 billion since the beginning of the year, up 8% on the same period in 2017. Enquiry levels are 13% ahead of last year, it added.