Calls by EasyJet founder Sir Stelios for the airline to increase its dividend has been rejected by shareholders.
Sir Stelios, whose family owns 34% of the low cost airline, has called for it to increase its payout from 40 to 50% of post-tax profits.
In a protest, he planned to vote with 5% of his family’s stake against the re-election of John Barton, easyJet’s chairman at the AGM on Thursday.
But fellow shareholders have failed to support him.
Trevor Green, head of UK equities at Aviva Investors, a top 20 investor in easyJet, told the Telegraph he was ‘very happy’ for easyJet to stick with the policy outlined at its 2014 capital markets day, lifting its dividend from a third of post-tax profits to 40%.
EasyJet’s chief executive, Dame Carolyn McCall, said last week that Sir Stelios’s dividend protest would have no bearing on the board’s decision.
