Tesco escaped adding a pay rebellion to its woes after securing 96.9% support for its remuneration report at its annual shareholder meeting in Cardiff.

The chain, the world's number three retailer, also rejected a call from a trade union group to review the strategy for its loss-making Fresh & Easy stores in the US.

The so-called shareholder spring has led to the departures of Aviva boss Andrew Moss and Sly Bailey, head of newspaper group Trinity Mirror, as well as defeats on advisory pay votes for the likes of Edinburgh-based Cairn Energy.

Tesco chief executive Philip Clarke refused a £372,000 bonus in the wake of the group's first profit warning in more than 20 years and pressure on its market share.

However, the company, which has more than 180 stores in Scotland and 2700 UK-wide, still faced objections from corporate governance advisor Pirc. In the end just 5% of shareholders failed to back Tesco's pay report.

Mr Clarke told the meeting Tesco's strategy to revive its core UK business – which accounts for 70% of Tesco's annual trading profit – was making progress.

At the meeting the Change to Win Investment Group, which advises US trade union-sponsored pension funds, asked Tesco to establish a committee of non-executive directors to review Fresh & Easy's future. "We will not be doing that," chairman Richard Broadbent told shareholders.