Thursday morning’s annual general meeting (AGM) of FBD plc shareholders heard about the strong performance by the insurance company in 2022.

Chair Liam Herlihy, after opening the meeting with a heartfelt tribute to Padraig Walshe, said that FBD remained a “profitable, well-capitalised business”.

That capital position is illustrated in the insurer’s capital solvency ratio, which stood at over 220% (meaning FBD has more than twice its required regulatory level of capital).

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CEO Tomás Ó’Midheach said they were targeting a ratio of 150% to 170%, so the capital above that level was available to be returned to shareholders.

Discussions

He told the Irish Farmers Journal that discussions with shareholders and stakeholders were currently under way, with an announcement over how a distribution would be made (either through dividends or share buyback) coming in the short term, possibly at the announcement of the insurer’s mid-year trading update.

When it came to questions from shareholders at the AGM, the topic of Ó’Midheach’s pay was the dominant one, with three speakers in the room expressing concern on his remuneration.

However, when it came to voting on the topic, there was virtually no opposition, with 98.8% of shareholder votes in favour of director pay.

The only vote at the AGM that saw any opposition was the re-election of Herlihy as CEO, with just over 8% of shareholder votes cast in opposition to that proposal. There were zero votes against the re-election of Ó’Midheach.

FBD is still awaiting the ruling from the business interruption hearing, which would allow the company to finally settle all outstanding claims on that matter. The ruling is expected by the middle of next month.