JD mum on PIC talks

JD GROUP, SA's largest furniture retailer, has dodged questions about an emergency meeting with its largest shareholder, the Public Investment Corporation (PIC).

The meeting was called after JD Group announced it would award directors share options at a 10% discount to the market price.

The options do not appear to be linked to performance targets for directors, and were awarded after JD Group said in January that four-month sales were 4,8% lower.

Executive chairman David Sussman said the group's “relationship with the PIC is ongoing, as one would expect with any shareholder … there are no problems between the PIC and ourselves”.

David Couldridge, senior governance analyst at Frater Asset Management, recently said this new disbursement of share options was “not the route for Sussman to improve relations with shareholders”.

JD Group has drawn fire for its results and lack of empowerment. It was also one of few large listed firms in SA still giving non-executive directors share options.

The practice appears to have stopped.

In the week after news about the share options broke, JD Group's shares fell almost 15%, while the JSE all share index rose.

Source: Business Day

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