Lloyds share price little changed ahead of shareholder meeting

Shares in Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) have been little changed in today’s session, ahead of the company’s annual general meeting tomorrow when the bailed-out lender is expected to face a shareholder rebellion over the pay package of its chief executive officer. The bank’s investors will further vote on the group’s dividend announced earlier this year.

As of 14:19 BST, Lloyds’ share price had lost 0.16 percent to stand at 65.32p, slightly underperforming the benchmark FTSE 100 index which is currently 0.06 percent worse off at 6,152.79 points. The group’s shares have lost nearly a quarter of their value over the past year, and are down some 10 percent in the year-to-date.
Lloyds is expected to become the next FTSE 100 company to face a shareholder rebellion over its executive pay arrangements, after a string of blue-chips, including BP (LON:BP) and rare disease specialist Shire (LON:SHP), saw pay revolts. The Telegraph recently reported that shareholder advisory groups PIRC and Manifest had called Lloyds chief executive’s £8.8-million pay package ‘excessive,’ with Manifest arguing that the factors contributing to his bonus are not transparently disclosed to investors.

Lloyds shareholders will also be asked to approve the lender’s dividends, announced alongside the group’s full-year results in February, when the bank said that it would pay out a final dividend of 1.5p, and a special dividend of 0.5p per share. If approved, both dividends will be paid to shareholders on May 17, as noted in the bank’s AGM notice. Lloyds restored shareholder payments last year following its taxpayer-funded bailout during the financial crisis.
In analyst news, Berenberg Bank reiterated its ‘sell’ stance on Lloyds this week, with a price target of 55p. BNP Paribas also remains bearish on the FTSE 100 bank with an ‘underperform’ rating and a valuation of 70p.
As of 14:52 BST, Wednesday, 11 May, Lloyds Banking Group share price is 65.31p.