Sports Direct chairman clings on to job with Ashley's backing

5th Jan 2017 15:27

(ShareCast News) - Sports Direct's chairman Keith Hellawell - who has been blamed for a catalogue of failures at the company - held on to his job on Thursday with the backing of founder and chief executive Mike Ashley.Just under 54% of independent shareholders voted against his re-appointment, virtually unchanged from the September vote, but Ashley, who owns 55% of the company, gave his support to the former policeman.80.9% of the votes were cast in favour of Hellawell's re-election, 19.08% against and 3.6m of shares were withheld. Ashley said: "Keith has my full backing and will be continuing in his role on the basis that he has the unanimous support of the board. I note that many of those who voted against Keith have acknowledged that we have made positive progress since the AGM." Investors such as Aberdeen Asset Management and Royal London have publicly opposed Hellawell's re-election.Meanwhile, shareholder advisory body ISS said earlier this week: "As chairman, Keith Hellawell has overseen a period of serious operational, governance, and risk oversight concerns which have materially affected the company's outlook and damaged shareholder value. As such, and in light of all of the above factors, his re-election does not warrant support at this time."In line with the recommendation issued ahead of the AGM, a vote against the re-election of the chairman remains warranted."At 1537 GMT, the shares were up 3% to 276.25p.