AGM alert: Haleon, Greggs, Raspberry Pi

After a show of dissent at one of the big FTSE 100 companies recently, shareholders have an opportunity to hold this trio of popular companies to account. Graeme Evans runs through the key talking points.

2nd May 2025 07:52

Graeme Evans from interactive investor

Unilever (LSE:ULVR) suffered one of the first major protests of the current FTSE 100 AGM season when more than a quarter of shareholder votes were cast against its annual pay report.

The dissent has been linked to the 1.8 million euros (£1.5 million) starting salary for Fernando Fernandez following his surprise promotion to chief executive in February.

Invest with ii: SIPP Account | Stocks & Shares ISA | See all Investment Accounts

According to Sky News, proxy adviser ISS said the discount to the salary of predecessor Hein Schumacher was too small at just 50,000 euros.

The protest vote means Unilever is required to publish a statement detailing its response, including consultation with shareholders, within six months of the AGM.

Fellow consumer goods group Haleon (LSE:HLN) is in the AGM spotlight later this month, while Raspberry Pi Holdings (LSE:RPI) is also due to host its first AGM as a publicly listed company.

Haleon

When: 3pm, Wednesday 28 May.

Where: A virtual meeting, broadcast from Haleon’s London offices and accessed via the Lumi electronic meeting platform

How to participate: The deadline for proxy voting instructions is 3pm, Friday 23 May, while questions in advance of the meeting should be submitted by 12pm, Tuesday 27 May. With a significant majority of the company’s ownership outside the UK, Haleon says the virtual meeting format allows more shareholders to participate. More AGM details can be found here.

Who’s in the chair? Dave Lewis was Tesco chief executive from 2014 to 2020.

How did the company do in 2024? The Sensodyne and Centrum business recorded revenues of £11.2 billion, representing organic growth of 5%. Operating profit of £2.5 billion showed an underlying increase of 9.8%, driven by margin expansion and productivity savings. Free cash flow of £1.9 billion reduced the debt to adjusted earnings ratio to 2.8 times. A final dividend of 4.6p a share is due to be paid on 5 June, resulting in a 10% increase for the year to 6.6p and equivalent to about 37% of 2024 adjusted earnings of 17.9p a share.

How have shares performed? Up 17% at 377.4p (388.7p on Thursday).

How much is the boss paid? Brian McNamara’s base salary for this year has increased 3.5% to £1.35 million. His total remuneration for 2024 amounted to £9 million, up from the £5.8 million received in relation to 2023 trading. The figure included cash and deferred shares worth £1.5 million after the annual bonus scheme paid 58.2% of the maximum opportunity. The 76% vesting of long-term incentives contributed £6 million to the final figure.

Was discretion used? The remuneration committee considered the impact of inflation in several markets in the context of the wider business performance over the three years of the long-term incentive plan. This reduced the vesting result from 85% to 76% of the maximum.

How was variable pay determined? The annual bonus scorecard had a 60% weighting on organic revenues growth, which came in just below the 5.3% target at 5%. Operating profit growth of 9.8% was above the 7.5% target but below the maximum of 11.5%. This year’s award has been re-balanced to increase the focus on organic operating profit growth, which will now have a 40% weighting. The vesting of long-term incentives awarded in 2022 was based on the measures of cumulative cash flow and the ratio of net debt to adjusted earnings. Share price appreciation over the period increased the value of McNamara’s grant of shares by £1.58 million.

How did last year’s AGM go? The annual remuneration report was approved with 95.74% of votes in favour.

How’s the company doing on diversity? The gender split of the 11-strong board is 64% female, including one senior role. The company meets the Parker Review objective on board ethnic minority representation.

Greggs

When: 11.30am, Wednesday 21 May.

Where: The Grand Hotel, High Gosforth Park, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE3 5HN.

How to participate: Proxy voting instructions should be returned no later than 11.30am, Wednesday 19 May. Questions in advance of the meeting should be sent by 5pm on Friday 16 May. More AGM details can be found here.

Who’s in the chair? Matt Davies was previously the CEO of Tesco UK & Ireland, before which he led Pets at Home and Halfords. He was appointed chair at Greggs (LSE:GRG) in November 2022.

How did the company do in the year to 28 December? Total sales exceeded £2 billion for the first time after growth of 11.3%. Pre-tax profit lifted 8.3% to £203.9 million and underlying earnings per share by 11.1 to 137.5p. A final dividend of 50p per share is due to be paid on 30 May, increasing the total for the year by 11.3% to 69p. The company continues to share 10% of its profits with staff who have been with the company for six months or more, resulting in a total payment of £20.5 million.

How have shares performed? Up 6% to 2,760p (1,829p on Thursday).

How much is the boss paid? Roisin Currie’s salary for 2025 has increased by 3.5% to £674,903. The company points out that over 84% of its workforce has received a pay increase of 6.1% or more in 2025. Her overall remuneration for 2024 amounted to £1.8 million, which included cash and deferred shares worth £432,000 based on 53% of the annual bonus opportunity. The 66.8% vesting of long-term incentives contributed £670,273 to the overall figure.

How was variable pay determined? The bonus scheme was 50% weighted on profit delivery, which came in above the target of £185.3 million. There was no award in relation to like-for-like sales despite growth of 5.5%, nor the strategic objectives of evening sales and increase in delivery sales. Cost savings and an increase in digital transactions were met in full, while an increase in unsold food redistribution was partly met. The vesting of long-term incentives was based on average annual growth in earnings per share and average return on capital employed.

How did last year’s AGM go? The annual remuneration report was approved with 97.85% of votes in favour.

How’s the company doing on diversity? Half of board roles are held by women, including the position of chief executive. At least one director comes from an ethnic minority background.

Raspberry Pi

When: 8.30am, Tuesday 20 May.

Where: Bradfield Centre Auditorium, 184 Cambridge Science Park Milton Rd, Milton, Cambridge CB4 0GA.

How to participate: The deadline for the proxy voting instructions and submission of questions on the business of the AGM is 8.30am, Friday 16 May. More AGM details can be found here.

Who’s in the chair? Martin Hellawell, who was appointed to the board in July 2019, was managing director and then chief executive of Softcat between 2006 and 2018.

How did the company do in 2024? Sales normalised in 2024 after the 41% growth in 2023, with the inventory correction meaning seven million single board computers and module products were sold compared with 2023’s 7.4 million. Revenues dropped 2% to $259.5 million and gross profit was 4% lower at $63.2 million. Adjusted earnings fell 15% to $37.2 million.

What happened in June’s IPO? The shares were priced at 280p, valuing the company at £541.6 million. Retail allocations were capped at 365 shares per applicant, equivalent to £1,022. The IPO raised £143.1 million to support the Raspberry Pi Foundation and £31.4 million for the company. The Foundation’s shareholding is 46.7%.

How have shares performed? Up 74% from the start of unconditional dealings to 625p, or 123% from the IPO price. The FTSE 250-listed stock topped 750p in early February but has fallen back to 452p.

How much is the boss paid? Founder and chief executive Eben Upton’s base salary for 2025 has increased 2% to £459,000. His prorated total remuneration for 2024 was £1 million, which included £561,283 of admission awards that are subject to a three-year holding period. It also included an annual bonus of £54,260, representing 10% of the maximum opportunity after the threshold for the 70% of the annual bonus determined by adjusted operating profit was not met.

Upton owned 3.5 million shares in the company at the end of 2024.

What are the pay arrangements for 2025? The maximum annual bonus opportunity for executive directors is 150% of salary. Performance will be measured 75% on adjusted operating profit and a strategic target based on increasing unit sales. Executives will also receive the first award under the long-term incentive plan of shares worth 200% of annual salary at grant. Vesting will be two-thirds based on cumulative adjusted earnings per share and the rest on relative total shareholder return against the FTSE 250 excluding certain industries.

How’s the company doing on diversity? Two out of eight directors are female, below the required level of 40%. Both women chair key committees of the board and one is senior independent director.. One member of the board is from a minority ethnic background.

These articles are provided for information purposes only. Occasionally, an opinion about whether to buy or sell a specific investment may be provided by third parties. The content is not intended to be a personal recommendation to buy or sell any financial instrument or product, or to adopt any investment strategy as it is not provided based on an assessment of your investing knowledge and experience, your financial situation or your investment objectives. The value of your investments, and the income derived from them, may go down as well as up. You may not get back all the money that you invest. The investments referred to in this article may not be suitable for all investors, and if in doubt, an investor should seek advice from a qualified investment adviser.

Full performance can be found on the company or index summary page on the interactive investor website. Simply click on the company's or index name highlighted in the article.

Get more news and expert articles direct to your inbox