Balaji Tele shareholders vote against top executives’ compensation plan

The voting, which concluded on August 31, showed 56.77% of public shareholders were against the remuneration structure proposed by the company to the two founders. 43.23% voted in favour.

While promoters including Jitendra, Shoba Kapoor, Ekta Kapoor and Tushar Kapoor together own 34.34% of the company,

held 24.92% stake as of June 30, 2021. Though foreign institutional investors owned 18.43% stake in the company, none of them voted during the process. Shareholders owning only 0.21% of the total equity voted.

The media and entertainment company had proposed a basic salary of up to Rs. 20 lakh per month and a commission of 2.5% of the net profit to Shobha Kapoor and Ekta Kapoor in two separate resolutions. The resolution authorized the board of directors to alter or vary the scope of remuneration, including commission and the monetary value of perquisites in the event of loss or inadequacy of profits in any financial year.

Balaji reported a net loss of Rs 33 crore for the quarter ended 30 June as against Rs 29 crore loss in the same quarter a year ago. Total income from operations jumped 85% to Rs 65 crore from Rs 35 crore in this period.

An email query sent to Balaji did not elicit any response.

In the case of special resolutions, votes cast in favour of the resolution must not be less than three times the number of votes cast against. In other words, the resolution is approved only when 75% of the valid votes are polled in its favour.

In the past few months, resolutions moved by various listed companies have been rejected by the minority shareholders.

Motor’s special resolution seeking Siddhartha Lal’s re-appointment – which was clubbed with the compensation hike proposal – failed to pass muster at the company’s shareholders’ meet on August 17, as most public institutional shareholders voted against.

Public shareholders including institutions have also voted against the remuneration proposals by Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Auto, and Balkrishna Industries, among others.