(Alliance News) - Hammerson PLC on Thursday faced shareholder dissent at a heated general meeting that saw a major holder fail to put its representatives on the board.

Lighthouse Properties PLC, which holds nearly 23% stake in Hammerson, had tabled resolutions to appoint two new board members. Lighthouse wants Hammerson to accelerate asset sales and resume dividend payments.

Lighthouse is a Mauritius-based property investor vehicle of former Hammerson director Desmond de Beer.

In a letter published in Lighthouse's annual report, it said it did "not have confidence in the Hammerson board as currently constituted, having regard to the operational and strategic weaknesses reflected in Hammerson".

At an annual general meeting, Nick Hughes and Craig Tate, Lighthouse's appointees, got just 40.55% of the vote, with 59.45% disapproving.

Hammerson said on Thursday the resolutions requisitioned by Lighthouse did not receive the necessary support from shareholders to pass.

"We acknowledged the issues raised by Lighthouse in the notice of AGM and were pleased to further engage with Lighthouse and other shareholders on these matters during the AGM process. We continue to recognise the importance of ongoing engagement and dialogue with all shareholders," the group said.

At the AGM, the company said it remained confident that the strategy and leadership team was the right one. "We are confident in the group's prospects for the remainder of 2023 and we remain on track to return to cash dividends as previously guided," it said.

Hammerson Chair Robert Noel said: "While we are pleased that the majority of the resolutions proposed by the board were passed with clear majorities, we note that resolutions 15 and 16 did not pass, and that resolutions 2-5, 9 and 14 passed with below an 80% majority in favour. The voting outcomes principally reflect votes cast against these resolutions by a group of shareholders connected with Lighthouse."

Resolutions 15 and 16 deal with pre-emption rights. Only 57.01% voted to disapply pre-emption rights, and 57.04% approved additional pre-emption rights.

Hammerson said resolutions one to 14, and resolution 17 were passed by the requisite majority.

Shares in Hammerson closed down 2.1% to 27.04 pence in London on Thursday. They fell by 1.4% in Johannesburg at ZAR6.23.

Lighthouse's stock closed down 0.6% at ZAR6.60 in Johannesburg.

By Artwell Dlamini, Alliance News reporter

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