Algoma Steel shareholders high-five big bonuses

Shareholders of Algoma Steel Group Inc. gave a thumbs-up on Tuesday to millions of dollars in performance incentives paid to senior executives.

In a new "Say on Pay" vote taken at the company's annual general meeting, shareholders approved Algoma's approach to executive compensation.

The shareholder vote was a first-time effort to enhance accountability for Algoma's compensation decisions, but it's nonetheless not binding on the company.

As SooToday reported last month, Algoma CEO Michael Garcia received total compensation of C$5.6 million during the 2024 fiscal year ended March 31.

Here's what was paid to other members of the steel mill's Big Five breadwinners:

• Rajat Marwah, chief financial officer – $1.6 million
• John Naccarato, vice president strategy and chief legal officer – $1.6 million
• Michael Panzeri, senior vice president production – $1.5 million
• Mark Nogalo, vice president strategic transformation – $1.2 million

"To succeed in the North American steel industry and to achieve its business and financial objectives, Algoma needs to attract, retain and motivate a highly talented team of executive officers," states the company's executive compensation policy.

"Algoma’s compensation philosophy is designed to align the compensation provided to its executives... with the achievement of business objectives, while also enabling Algoma to attract, motivate and retain individuals who contribute to Algoma’s long-term success.

"The board seeks to compensate executive officers by combining short-term cash and long-term equity incentives.

"Its focus is to reward the achievement of corporate performance objectives, and to align executive officers’ incentives with the company's performance.

"The company's philosophy is to pay fair, reasonable and competitive compensation with a significant equity-based component in order to align the interests of the company's executive officers with those of its shareholders."

The following were voted in Tuesday as company directors:

• Andy Harshaw
• Mary Anne Bueschkens
• James Gouin
• Gale Rubenstein
• David D. Sgro
• Eric Rosenfeld
• Michael Garcia
• Ave G. Lethbridge
• Sanjay Nakra
• Sean Donnelly

MarketBeat reported "unusually large options trading activity" on Algoma Steel shares on the NASDAQ exchange on Tuesday.

"Stock traders bought 10,025 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 1,591 per cent compared to the typical daily volume of 593 call options," the financial site said.

Algoma Steel prohibits company insiders from selling short, or from purchasing or selling puts, calls or other derivative securities.