Wagamama owner The Restaurant Group scraped through its latest pay deal for bosses after shareholders revolted against the hospitality firm.
A number of investors, led by activist fund manager Oasis Management, protested against the “unpalatable” pay of the firm’s chief executive, Andy Hornsby, after four years of losses.
Mr Hornsby received a total pay package worth £792,000 for 2022, including an annual bonus of £125,000.
It came after the company posted an £86.8 million loss for the year.
On Tuesday, 45.5% of Restaurant Group shareholders voted against the company’s pay report for last year at the firm’s annual general meeting in London.
However, the company ultimately secured the majority approval needed to pass the deal.
There was also a shareholder revolt against the remuneration policy for directors, which will hand Mr Hornsby and finance chief Kirk Davis a 2.5% salary increase this year. Almost 35% of investors voted against the policy.
There were also significant votes against the reappointment of company chairman Ken Hanna, director Zoe Morgan and Mr Hornsby as chief.
In a statement, the company, which also owns the Frankie & Benny’s and Chiquito chains, said: “It is noted that a significant minority did not support certain of the substantive remuneration resolutions.
“The remuneration committee intends to keep the remuneration policy under active review to ensure it remains appropriate to the group’s evolution and aligned to stakeholder interests and will provide an update on that review within the statutory six-month timescale.”
Oasis, which owns a 12.3% stake in the group, also wrote to the business last week to express its “deep concern regarding the equal treatment of shareholders”.
Meanwhile, the Sunday Telegraph reported over the weekend that Florida-based hedge fund TMR Capital has also called for an overhaul at the business, proposing that the group sells all its operations apart from Wagamama.
