British American Tobacco investors have expressed their anger that Jack Bowles, the company’s CEO, will receive a 9.5 per cent pay rise, reports Sky News.

The backlash comes as many companies have been cutting top salaries in response to the coronavirus pandemic. According to the report, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), a major proxy adviser, has recommended that BAT’s investors oppose the remuneration report which will be presented at the annual meeting later this month. ISS claims that the report is not justified, as Bowles’ salary will increase from USD 1.46 million to USD 1.6 million.
The opposition to this increase is due to its timing, as many other FTSE-100 companies have announced their chief executives will take temporary pay cuts in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. The head of BT Group, for example, has announced that they will forfeit their salary for six months.
A BAT spokesperson told Sky News, “Jack Bowles was appointed on a package that was 21 per cent lower than that of his predecessor. Following the 9.5 per cent pay increase for Jack following a very strong first year in role, his total fixed remuneration is still 15 per cent lower than his predecessor.”
BAT stated that this has been “acknowledged by ISS” and that the remuneration report had gained the approval of another proxy adviser, Glass Lewis.