Tandem defeats biggest shareholder in AGM pay dispute
By Sean Farrell
Date: Thursday 25 Jun 2020
(Sharecast News) - Tandem has defeated its biggest shareholder's attempt to oust senior board members and reject new articles of association at the bicycle maker's annual general meeting.
Chairman Mervyn Keene was re-elected with 57.2% of the vote and non-executive director Mark Taylor received 58.6% support at the AGM. The articles off association were approved with 78.8% of votes.
Tandem announced the results after reporting a strong start to the year helped by high demand for bikes triggered by the Covid-19 crisis. The company's shares rose 10.8% to a near 18-year high of 288p at 13:55 BST.
Simon Bragg, who owns almost 11% of Tandem's shares, had asked other shareholders to consider voting against the directors and the articles to protest against alleged overpayment of directors and poor governance.
Bragg, the former boss of Oriel Securities, accused the maker of Claud Butler and Dawes bikes of breaching a £75,000 limit on non-executives' pay enshrined in the previous articles of association. Tandem told shareholders it had to pay the going rate for directors of around £90,000 and that the limit applied to directors fees and not "remuneration".
The votes were a victory for the board but they showed a large chunk of votes siding with Bragg. Tandem had accused Bragg of making mischief when the company should be concentrating on getting through the economic turmoil caused by the Covid-19 crisis.
In a statement before the AGM, Keene said revenue in the 25 weeks to 23 June rose 7%. Keene said it had been "an exceptional period for bicycle sales" with the bike business up 72% from a year earlier. Bike sales have soared as commuters seek to avoid public transport and the government has announced a series of measures to support cycling.
"Given such unprecedented demand, our greatest challenge has been to remain in stock and to maintain timely supply to our customers," Keene said. "Our outlook for the remainder of 2020 is broadly positive at this stage. Domestic demand for wheeled toys, outdoor products and bicycles is showing no sign of abatement."
Keene did not mention the dispute with Bragg.
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