Face of Nation : Mr Coupe, who was caught on camera singing We’re In The Money after the tie-up was first announced last year, saw his annual pay rise 7% to £3.9m despite the failure of the transaction and a slump in the supermarket’s share price.
Criticism came from some of the private shareholders who account for about 10% of holdings in the group.
The company’s remuneration report was still passed with more than 90% support from investors.
One private shareholder, John Farmer – a regular critical voice on Britain’s AGM circuit – said the board had presided over a “blunderingly poor performance”.
He described the failed Asda tie-up, on which Sainsbury’s spent £46m, as a “fiasco”.
Mr Farmer said “this useless chief executive” should be fired and, to applause, asked the board: “When are you going to get your act together?”
Another shareholder, former employee Jean Dale, expressed dismay at the plunge in the stock price and questioned whether Sainsbury’s was “ripe for a takeover”.
Meanwhile shareholder advisory group Glass Lewis expressed concerns about payouts for bosses agreed by the company’s remuneration committee following the collapse of the Asda deal.
It said: “The committee have failed to outline the impact, if any, of the failed deal on the bonus outcomes of the executives, particularly in the light of share price performance as a direct result.”
But chairman Martin Scicluna, who took over in the role in March, said the £13bn merger with Asda would have been a “cracking deal”.
He also defended Mr Coupe, who he said “knows retail more than anybody in this world” and deserved to be rewarded for delivering an 8% rise in underlying profits.
Mr Scicluna said he was not “shopping around” for a new chief executive.
The AGM comes a day after Sainsbury’s reported a deepening decline in its first quarter amid what it described as a “tough retail environment”.
