AGM alert: Currys, Halfords and Babcock International

The Babcock logo on display during the Undersea Defence Technology (UDT) show at ExCel London in April 2026. Photo: John Keeble/Getty Images.

Pay arrangements for the new and former chief executives of Currys (LSE:CURY), Halfords Group (LSE:HFD) and Babcock International Group (LSE:BAB) will be in the spotlight when the companies host AGMs in the coming month.

Alex Baldock, who ran the electricals chain Currys for eight years, got a total of £6.3 million in the most recent financial year but did not receive an annual bonus.

Shares fell 9% to 119.65p when his departure was announced at the end of March. Board chair Ian Dyson said: “During his eight years here, he has achieved a huge amount, transforming the business in the face of some difficult headwinds.”

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The shares were 185p when Baldock started at the former Dixons Carphone business in April 2018. They slumped to 73p in the aftermath of Covid and 43p in the autumn of 2023 before a recovery to 168p at the end of July. His successor Fredrik Tønnesen is on a salary of £825,000.

David Lockwood stepped down as chief executive of Babcock International on 31 July, having overseen the turnaround of the defence industry supplier during six years in charge, 

His total remuneration amounted to £8.9 million in the year to 31 March, driven by share price appreciation on the value of long-term incentives. Harry Holt, who used to run the company’s Nuclear division, is the new boss on £900,000 a year.

At Halfords, Henry Birch got a total of £1.46 million in his first year as chief executive. Birch, who replaced Graham Stapleton in April last year, has been boosted by the retailer’s return to the ranks of the FTSE 250 index.

Currys

When: 11am, Thursday 10 September.

Where: BFI Southbank, Belvedere Road, South Bank, London SE1 8XT.

How to participate: Proxy voting instructions should be returned no later than 11am, Tuesday 8 September. More AGM details can be found here.

Who’s in the chair? Ian Dyson, who joined the board in September 2022, is the former finance and operations director of Marks & Spencer and ex-chief executive of Punch Taverns.

How did the company do in the year to 2 May? Group revenue of £9.25 billion rose 6% on a year earlier, with UK and Ireland like-for-like sales up 3% and the Nordics division 6% higher. Adjusted profit lifted 18% to £191 million and earnings per share by 19% to 13.4p, while free cash flow improved by 5% to £157 million. A final dividend of 2.25p is due to be paid on 25 September, doubling the total for the year to 3p.

How have shares performed? Up 9% to 126.2p (160p on Thursday).

How much was the boss paid? Alex Baldock got a total of £6.3 million, up from £4.1 million a year earlier and the most since starting the role in 2017/18. This was driven by share price appreciation on the value of long-term incentives, which contributed £5.18 million after vesting at 100% for the first time since Baldock’s appointment. He did not receive an annual bonus award after announcing in March his intention to step down. Baldock will be required to hold shares worth 250% of his £1 million salary for two years subsequent to this month's departure.

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What about the new boss? Baldock has been replaced by Fredrik Tønnesen, who joined Elkjøp 20 years ago as a sales assistant and held a series of senior roles before becoming chief executive of the Nordics division in March 2023. In that role, which accounts for about 40% of group revenue, he more than tripled operating profits and delivered an improvement in staff and customer satisfaction. His starting salary is £825,000 and he will next be eligible for a review in 2027-28. The maximum bonus opportunity will be 175% of salary, while the award of 2026-27 long-term incentives has been made at 250% of salary. 

How was variable pay determined? The annual bonus outcome for finance chief Bruce Marsh was 97.71% of the maximum, resulting in £665,000 as part of his overall remuneration total of £4.2 million. Underlying earnings accounted for 55% of the bonus scorecard, with free cash flow the other financial metric used. Long-term incentives were based on cumulative cash flow and earnings per share, which at £388 million and 32.6p respectively were well ahead of their maximum targets of £276 million and 29.6p. Relative total shareholder return of 134% accounted for the rest of the vesting outcome. 

How did last year’s AGM go? The new three-year remuneration policy received 92.49% support, while 94.20% of votes were cast in favour of the annual remuneration report.

How’s the company doing on diversity? The gender split of the board at the end of the financial year was 33.3% female, which is below the FTSE Women Leaders Review target of 40%. One of four senior roles is held by a woman, while one director is from an ethnic minority background.

Babcock International

When: 10.30am, Wednesday 16 September.

Where: Ashurst LLP, Fruit & Wool Exchange, 1 Duval Square, London E1 6PW.

How to participate: Proxy voting instructions should be returned no later than 10.30am,  Monday, 14 September. More AGM details can be found here.

Who’s in the chair? Ruth Cairnie, who spent four decades at the oil giant Shell, was appointed in July 2019. She is a former board director of Rolls-Royce and Associated British Foods.

How did the company do in the year to 31 March? Revenues of £5.2 billion grew 8% organically, driven by strong performances in Nuclear and Aviation. The results included a £140 million charge in relation to the legacy contract to build five Type 31 frigates for the Royal Navy, meaning earnings per share (EPS) fell 21% to 39.6p. Excluding the charge, operating profit increased 19% to £433 million and underlying EPS rose 20% to 60.5p. A final dividend of 5p a share is due on 25 September, lifting the total for the year by 15.3% to 7.5p a share. 

How have shares performed? Up 60% to 1,158p (1,205p on Thursday).

How much was the boss paid? David Lockwood's total remuneration amounted to £8.9 million, up from £7.2 million the year before. Long-term incentives contributed £6.8 million, which reflected a vesting outcome of 95.3% as well as share price appreciation amounting to £4.9 million. The annual bonus scheme paid £820,000 in cash, which was based on 59% of the maximum opportunity. Lockwood, who has overseen Babcock's turnaround during six years in charge, stepped down as chief executive on 31 July but is due to remain at the company until his retirement at the end of January. His base salary in the current year is £960,921, while he will be eligible for a pro-rated 2026-27 annual bonus.

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How did Type 31 impact variable pay? The annual bonus scorecard took into account the in-year impact of Type 31 charges on the operating profit element of the bonus, even though this was a legacy contract entered into before the tenures of both executive directors. The result is a nil payout under the operating profit element, which is worth 40% of the bonus opportunity. The vesting of long-term incentives granted in 2024 included an adjustment to the margin calculation to exclude the impact of Type 31. The remuneration committee anticipates the same approach in relation to 2025 and 2026 awards. It said this took into account meaningful progress towards medium-term margin guidance, as well noting the strong shareholder returns of about 296% over the three years of the 2024 long-term incentive plan.

How much is the new boss paid? Harry Holt has seen his salary increase to £900,000 after he took over from Lockwood on 31 July. As CEO of Babcock Nuclear, the company’s largest sector, Holt has been a key part of the senior management team since November 2023. He was previously at Rolls-Royce, including as president of its nuclear division.

How did last year’s AGM go? The new three-year remuneration policy was opposed by 32.35% of the votes cast. The proposals included an absolute Total Shareholder Return (TSR) ‘kicker’ element to vested long-term performance share plan awards. The maximum multiplier of two times required absolute TSR to be at least 30% per annum. This would have doubled the maximum long-term opportunity to 500% of salary, from the current 250%. The plan also included an increase in the annual bonus opportunity from 150% to 180% of salary and a waiver of bonus deferral where a director has met their shareholding requirement.

What’s happened since last year’s AGM? Having reconsidered its position and in light of the overall market situation, the remuneration committee has decided not to implement the changes apart from the waiver of the bonus deferral.

How’s the company doing on diversity? Female representation at the end of the financial year was 40%, including one senior role. One director is from an ethnic minority background,

Halfords

When: 3pm, Thursday 10 September.

Where: Icknield Street Drive, Washford West, Redditch B98 0DE.

How to participate: Voting instructions should be returned no later than 3pm, Tuesday 8 September. More AGM details can be found here.

Who’s in the chair? Keith Williams is hosting his final meeting after eight years on the Halfords board. He will be succeeded by Jock Lennox, who spent 30 years with Ernst & Young and is currently chair of Johnson Service Group.

How did the company do in the year to 3 April? Revenues for the 53 weeks of the financial year were £1.8 billion, or 2.9% higher at £1.76 billion when compared with 2025 using 52 weeks to 27 March. Retail like-for-like sales rose 4.1% and Autocentres by 5.8%. Gross margin improved by 210 basis points to 52.8% as underlying pre-tax profits lifted 4.1% to £45.4million and earnings per share rose by 0.6% to 15.7p. A dividend of 6p a share is due to be paid on 15 September, resulting in a 0.2% increase in the total for the year to 9p.

How have shares performed? Up 7% to 131.6p (240.5p on Thursday). The shares returned to the FTSE 250 index at the start of August.

How much is the boss paid? Henry Birch, who was appointed in April 2025, got a total of £1.46 million in his first year as chief executive. This included an annual bonus of £799,000, which was 85.2% of the maximum opportunity. His base salary for 2026-27 has increased by 2% to  £663,000, compared with a rise of 3.9% for the general workforce.

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How was variable pay determined? The target for underlying pre-tax profit was exceeded, resulting in an outturn of 82% of the maximum for the 60% of the annual bonus determined by this measure. Free cash flow, costs as a percentage of sales and customer satisfaction, which each made up 10% of the bonus scorecard, achieved the maximum result. Relative total shareholder return and underlying basic earnings per share were below median in the long-term incentive scheme, with the 17.1% vesting outcome for finance chief Jo Hartley and former boss Graham Stapleton due to a near-maximum performance for service-related sales.

What’s in the new remuneration policy? The core incentive elements have been retained, including the bonus opportunity of up to 150% of base salary. However, the policy proposes a fixed number of shares approach in relation to the granting of long-term incentives over the life of the policy. Based on the current maximum of 200% of salary and three-month average share price to the end of the 2026 financial year of 142.8p, this will mean 929,000 shares for the CEO. The same number will be awarded through the policy period up to 2029. Halfords said the mechanism increases alignment with shareholders as the grant value of long-term incentive awards will move with the share price. The current policy got 99.23% support at the 2023 AGM.

How did last year’s AGM go? The annual remuneration report was approved with 99.38% of votes in favour.

How’s the company doing on diversity? The gender split of the board is 50% female, including two senior roles. One director is from an ethnic minority background.