The concerns shareholders had last year have already been done...

The concerns shareholders had last year have already been done to death here. Likewise, changes to the remuneration framework can be found by comparing the 2021 and 2022 annual reports. I’m not going spent a half-hour dissecting them or summarising them, particularly when your negative position is well known and your questions are probably rhetorical.

I am in general agreement with the changes they have made, particularly winding back the confetti-chucking of shares that was part of the Grivas-Shearer regime. For executive staff, STIs are tied to KPIs and LTIs linked to shareholder return, as they should be. NEDs no longer receive equity incentives; their cash salary is increased but one-fifth of it must be used to purchase shares on market. In short, they’re getting some more cash but a lot less freebie shares, which means less dilution.It may be still a bit too generous, particularly in the context of recent events, but not so generous that it warrants another strike.

It’s important to put some sort of ceiling on remuneration but not hack into it so much that sitting on the board becomes unappealing to anyone of competence and experience. The current group are essentially Board 2.0. They have taken over the company from previous mob, who probably never intended to get it into production and fled when their pockets were filled. I think this board deserve another 12 months to turn it around before we start swinging the strike axe and talking spills.