GPE executives get big bonuses while slump hits profits
GREAT Portland Estates, the West End property group, has handed out a total £1.3m in executive bonus payouts, despite sinking to a £436m pre-tax loss last year.
The property group is expected to face clashes when it meets shareholders at its annual meeting next month.
Since the downturn bonuses have been in the spotlight as companies are under fire for rewarding failure.
The group last month posted a 43.5 per cent fall in full-year adjusted net asset value as the economic turmoil battered commercial property prices in the capital.
Despite the property slump, chief executive Toby Courtauld was awarded a £402,000 bonus on top of his £446,000 salary for the year ended 31 March 2009, taking his total pay-package to £859,000.
The executive directors awarded significant performance based bonuses include finance director Timon Drakesmith who was also awarded a £287,000 bonus; property director Robert Noel who gained a £321,000 reward, and development director Neil Thompson who received a £300,000 payout.
The group’s annual report said that while the directors failed to meet the bonus plan targets for net asset value targets “overall the company has continued to perform well, both in its relative performance, and in the executive directors’ achievement of their personal objectives.”
The group’s share price has almost halved in the last twelve months. However, unlike many of its peers it has escaped distressed asset sales.