KUALA LUMPUR (July 18): Sapura Energy Bhd, which was questioned by certain institutional shareholders for its executive directors’ “excessive” pay packages, announced that all of the six resolutions tabled at its seventh annual general meeting (AGM) have been approved and duly passed by shareholders.

“The results of the poll were validated by Symphony Corporatehouse Sdn Bhd, the independent scrutineer appointed by the company,” Sapura Energy said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia today.

At the six-hour AGM today, Sapura Energy had tabled six resolutions for its shareholders to consider and approve.

The first resolution was related to the re-election of Sapura Energy’s president and group chief executive officer Tan Sri Shahril Shamsuddin as the director of the company, while the second and third resolutions were related to the re-election of Mohamed Rashdi Mohamed Ghazalli and Datuk Muhamad Noor Hamid as independent directors, respectively.

The fourth resolution was for a payment totalling RM5.6 million for fees and benefits to the non-executive directors, which will be valid from tomorrow (July 19) until the next AGM.

The fifth resolution was for the re-appointment of Ernst & Young as the external auditor for the financial year ending Jan 31, 2019 (FY19), while the sixth resolution was to grant Sapura Energy directors with the authority to allot and issue new shares.

On the first resolution, Sapura Energy said Shahril was re-elected as a director of the group with an overwhelming 81.71% of shareholders voting in favour, while 18.29% voted against.

At the same time, Sapura Energy said 54.46% and 76.7% of shareholders voted in favour of the second and third resolutions, thus retaining both Mohamed Rashdi and Muhamad Noor as independent directors.

Earlier, the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) had said that it will oppose the re-appointment of all the three directors.

EPF, which ceased to be a substantial shareholder on May 17 had also voiced its unhappiness with Shahril’s annual take-home pay of between RM70 million and RM80 million, which it described as “excessive” and “obscene”.

Sapura Energy disclosed that it had awarded Sharil with RM7.24 million in salaries and other emoluments, while his performance-based bonuses was fixed at RM64.68 million, bring his total take-home pay in FY18 to RM71.92 million.

Apart from the executive pay, the EPF, along with the Minority Shareholders Watchdog Group, had also asked Sapura Energy shareholders to oppose the fourth resolution on the payment of up to RM5.6 million to the non-executive directors, as the company suffered losses to the tune of RM2.5 billion in FY18.

Despite the protests, Sapura Energy said 73.21% of its shareholders had voted in favour of the fourth resolution, while 26.79% had voted against.

As for the fifth and the sixth resolutions, Sapura Energy said the majority of shareholders approved the reappointment of Ernst & Young, as well as its directors to carry-out their respective mandates.

Listed on the Main Market, Sapura Energy shares gained 0.5 sen or 0.84%, and closed at 60 sen today, for a market capitalisation of RM3.59 billion.