Sainsbury wins pay vote

SAINSBURY'S, the third-biggest supermarket chain, also won overwhelming investor backing for its executive pay plan, with the results of a proxy vote showing 98 per cent support at yesterday's annual general meeting.

The poll showed just 2 per cent of shareholders either abstaining or voting against the plan, which included a package worth almost 8 million for chief executive Justin King.

Sainsbury's chairman David Tyler said the group had been assured by 26 per cent shareholder Qatar Holdings that it was a long-term investor in the business.

Qatar Holdings is periodically tipped as a bidder for Sainsbury after abandoning a takeover attempt in 2007.