Vodafone chairman pans critics

VODAFONE chairman Lord MacLaurin has rounded on critics of the company's financial performance and boardroom pay policy.

Speaking at the annual meeting, MacLaurin said media coverage of the company had caused him 'great concern' and he was particularly worried about the 'lack of clarity and balance in reporting about Vodafone'.

He said the company's 'superb operating performance' had been misrepresented as 'the biggest loss in British corporate history' and added that comparisons made with collapsed US giants Enron and WorldCom were 'odious and damaging'.

He said that one shareholder had even asked if the company was going bust. He said: 'Of course not. That is plainly ridiculous.'

Defending the multi-million pound pay awards to chief executive Sir Christopher Gent and other directors, he said that remuneration committee chairman Penny Hughes had devoted an 'enormous amount of time' to consulting shareholders over the new policy.

He also dismissed critics of Vodafone's share price, saying that it had outperformed the Footsie 100 index by 87% in the time that Gent had been chief executive.

MacLaurin, the former boss of Tesco, today announced he will stand down from the chairmanship of the English Cricket Board at the end of this summer.

'I no longer have the necessary time to devote to this very important role,' he said MacLaurin.

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