AGL defends executive pay

AGL Energy's (AGK) remuneration committee has said a decision to factor in asset impairments in short-term but not long-term incentives for chief Michael Fraser is "fair and reasonable", The Australian Financial Review reports.

Proxy advisor Ownership Matters is believed to have opposed the retailers remuneration report at last week's AGM, the newspaper reports.

Committee chair Les Hosking said short-term incentives were down about 34%, despite AGL making an underlying net profit. Mr Fraser's total remuneration fell 8%.

The impairments included a $343.7 million writedown of AGL's upstream gas projects in NSW, the AFR says, in the wake of the state goverment's enhanced rules on coal seam gas exclusion zones.

Mr Hosking said executive pay was calculated in line with a new system approved by shareholders several years ago which includes a clawback mechanism to reduce unvested rewards if performance declines below thresholds.

AGL's shares fell roughly 2% in the last financial year, the AFR says, against a benchmark index rise of 17%.