Staples investors reject exec. pay plan, call for leadership change

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Shareholders at Staples voiced their displeasure with a new executive pay package Monday and called for an independent board chairman.

In a nonbinding vote, 54 percent of investors in the Framingham-based office supply retailer rejected the executive compensation plan, while 51 percent favored splitting the roles of chief executive and chairman. These votes followed company announcements of plans of close 225 North American stores and a 43 percent drop in first-quarter profits.

“We take shareholder input very seriously,” company spokesman Kirk Saville said in a statement. “The board of directors will take these results into consideration as it continues to work to build value for all shareholders.”

Executives failed to qualify for annual bonuses in 2013 due to the firm’s poor stock performance. But nonetheless, the board in March approved one-time cash awards totaling more than $525,000 for CEO Ron Sargent, Chief Financial Officer Christine Komola, North American commercial unit president Joseph Doody, and North American stores and online president Demos Parneros.

With the one-time bonus, Sargent’s total compensation for 2013 was $10.77 million.

Investor advisor firm Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) recommended that shareholders vote down the new bonuses, while both ISS and Glass Lewis & Co. called for an independent board chairman.

Sargent, who became CEO in 2002, was given the title of chairman in 2005. Shareholders rejected a similar proposal last year.