Novogen winds up probe into proxy votes

Cancer drug developer Novogen (ASX:NRT, NASDAQ:NVGN) has concluded its investigation into the reasons why there was an overwhelming majority of proxies against the company's remuneration report.

Novogen received a letter from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, which questioned why the company had adopted its remuneration report on a show of hands at its AGM in late October, despite the majority of proxies against the non-binding resolution.

The company was advised by the stock holder representing about 98 per cent of the proxies that its third party independent proxy voting agent had made an error in the vote.

"The stock holder's intention was to vote for the resolution, and has apologised to the company for the confusion caused," Novogen said in a statement.

Novogen did not receive comments from any shareholders represented by the other 2 per cent residual proxy votes against the resolution. The company also considered six replies from other shareholders who voted yes, abstained or did not vote.

After a review, the company's remuneration committee considered the report to be 'appropriate' for Novogen, particularly because the executive and non-executive director remuneration is 'around the average for similar sized companies, and contains no additional payments or unusual benefits,' the statement read. This remuneration is also referenced to "relevant employment market conditions necessary to retain a high-quality management team."