COMPANY COMMENT: Votes a barometer of a company’s climate
The detailed results of voting at mining group Tharisa's AGM reveal several surprises
It’s appalling to consider that until recently, investors on the JSE had to pitch up to the annual general meeting (AGM) of the companies in which they were invested to find out how the voting went. Absentees were told only that all the resolutions were passed by the requisite majority. Imagine this in the political sphere: "The ANC has won the right to govern the country by the requisite majority." It wouldn’t have been tolerated; not even when the National Party was in power. That investors put up with it for decades is a sign of just how cosy the environment was. Now trawling through the detailed results of voting at AGMs provides a wealth of information about the inner workings of a company; or at least of how the big shareholders are getting along. On Wednesday, mining group Tharisa held its AGM at which all the resolutions were passed; some received a remarkable 100% support from shareholders. Inevitably, this meant the few resolutions that were opposed by 20%-plus deserved so...
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