Hoya Corp. Chief Executive Officer Hiroshi Suzuki may reveal the salaries of all executives after a shareholder proposal by his 32-year-old cousin for full disclosure won backing from a minority of investors.
Hoya, Japan's biggest maker of optical glass, is considering the call by Yutaka Yamanaka for more transparency on pay along with other stockholder propositions that garnered more than 40 percent of votes at the general meeting in June, Hoya spokesman Naoji Ito said Friday.
Yamanaka's 15-point package of recommendations for corporate governance is gaining traction at Hoya, bucking a national trend of waning shareholder activism. Japanese companies facing such proposals fell to 19 last year from a peak of 23 in 2007 as the global financial crisis increased divestment, according to proxy adviser Glass, Lewis & Co.
Starting this year, publicly traded companies must provide the names of executives earning at least ¥100 million and a breakdown of their compensation packages.
Suzuki received ¥153 million in compensation for the year that ended March 31, Hoya said June 18. The glassmaker and all listed companies are also required starting this year to disclose the tally of votes for each shareholder proposal.
Yamanaka's proposals, which include limits on concurrent board membership and an end to cumulative voting, won backing from Glass, Lewis, while failing to attract the two-thirds majority needed to pass at Hoya's annual shareholders' meeting this year.
Hoya gained 1.17 percent Monday to close at ¥1,904. The company's shares have fallen 24 percent this year, compared with a 15 percent drop in the Nikkei 225 stock average.
Overseas shareholders, including JPMorgan Chase & Co., Capital Research & Management Co. and Deutsche Bank AG, owned 54 percent of Hoya's outstanding shares as of March 2009.
