Mike Ashley misses out on £24m ‘super-stretch’ bonus plan

MIKE ASHLEY looks set to miss a £24 million pay-out after Sports Direct shareholders yesterday voted down his bonus despite the retailer’s impressive results.

The chain said that it had cashed in on Britain’s “unprecedented” sporting summer to post a big rise in sales, which should have put the group’s founder and executive deputy chairman on track to meet a “super-stretch” bonus target.

But only 60 per cent of shareholders using proxy votes approved the plan to hand Ashley eight million shares worth around £24m if the company’s profits rise to £340m in 2015.

Having seen that they didn’t have enough support from proxy voters, the directors abandoned the vote at the annual meeting because the resolution required 75 per cent approval to be passed, excluding Ashley’s own majority holding.

Remuneration committee chairman Dave Singleton said the board was disappointed, adding that a new super-stretch share scheme with changed performance criteria will instead be proposed to shareholders.

Ashley, who also owns Newcastle United football club, receives no pay from the retailer other than his bonus.

The company said the vote does not affect the share scheme for employees, which has seen staff pocket thousands of pounds worth of shares.

They remain on target for more pay-outs after Sports Direct saw store sales rise 19.9 per cent in the 13 weeks to 29 July.

Including sales of its own brands – such as Donnay, Karrimor and Slazenger – profits rose 20.4 per cent to £211.1m.