Finance bosses see salaries rise
FINANCE directors saw their salaries rise and bonuses soar in the last financial year, according to data out today from Income Data Services (IDS), against the backdrop of the “shareholder spring” and increased owner-activism over remuneration.
The average finance director at a FTSE 100 firm saw their salary rise by four per cent and total cash earnings – including bonuses – rise by 15.1 per cent, the data company’s report revealed. The largest rise for any one director was an 87.6 per cent increase, while the largest fall was 38.5 per cent.
Using the median figure to exclude the impact of the most extreme pay packets, IDS calculated the average finance director received a basic salary of £499,332 and a cash bonus of £588,500, leaving total cash earnings of £1.068m. When other perks like share options and other long-term incentives are included, that rises to £1.636m. That compares with a median salary of £130,000 and bonus of £19,000 at smaller AIM-listed firms, where finance directors received an average pay rise of 1.9 per cent in the year, firmly below the median rise of 2.4 per cent in FTSE 100 firms.
The study showed that firms in finance, utilities and construction showed the greatest disparity between basic salary and total earnings, suggesting these sectors are most highly geared towards variable pay.