Boohoo’s Irish boss gives up £1m bonus as shareholders revolt

Boohoo said in a statement that the executive directors had opted to “waive their entire bonus entitlement” for the retail group’s most recent financial year.

The directors include Offaly-born chief executive John Lyttle, as well as co-founders Carol Kane and Mahmud Kamani. Ms Kane is now an executive director at the group, while Mr Kamani is executive chairman.

A number of shareholders had been unhappy with the planned bonuses following the company’s £160m loss for the year ended February 29, according to a report in The Times.

The three executives were not entitled to a bonus in the most recent financial year as financial targets had not been met, the annual report stated. However, the remuneration committee opted to pay the bonuses due to the fact that the “formulaic outcome is not an accurate reflection of the excellent work carried out during the year.”

The planned £1m bonus included a £300,000 payment and £700,000 in shares. Mr Lyttle’s salary for the year is now £713,175, down from £1.3m in the group’s previous financial year.

A number of shareholders had indicated that they would vote against the planned bonuses at the company’s annual general meeting (AGM) next month. Shareholders were also set to vote on a resolution regarding the company’s incentive plan at the meeting. However, in its statement, Boohoo said it would move to cancel the vote.

Boohoo said it had “engaged with certain shareholders” regarding the incentive plan, and “decided not to implement the incentive plan at this time.”

It will consider further engagement with shareholders in relation to the plan in the the future.

Boohoo had looked to change the existing remuneration policy by combining the annual bonus scheme and long-term incentive plan into one plan which features a “blend of time and performance-based awards.”

Mr Lyttle has led Boohoo Group since 2019. Prior to this, he was chief operating officer for eight years at Primark.