Stagecoach chief executive Martin Griffiths picked up a remuneration package worth £2.2 million during his first year in charge of the transport giant around £100,000 less than his pay in his final 12 months as the group’s finance chief.
The head of the Perth-based firm picked up a salary of £600,000 for the year to the end of April, plus a bonus equivalent to 100% of his wage after meeting a string of objectives outlined by the company’s pay policy.
He also picked up £597,000 in shares following the vesting of long-term incentive plan awards, £406,000 in pension benefits and £23,624 in other expenses including car allowance, private healthcare allowance and reimbursement of home phone expenses.
But Mr Griffiths’ pay dropped below FY13 levels thanks to a fall in the number of incentive shares vesting during the period, and significantly short of the £3.4m remuneration deal handed to predecessor Sir Brian Souter during his final year at the top of the global concern he founded.
Stagecoach’s annual report, published yesterday, also showed chief financial officer Ross Paterson was given a pay and benefits deal worth £1.35m.
Targets included narrowing the group’s debt to £509.9m, achieving earnings per share of 25.4p and returning a profit, before interest and tax, of at least £213.7m. Actual outturns were £457.3m, 26p and £214.3m, respectively.
Sir Brian received £200,000 in his new role as chairman, plus £577 to cover phone expenses.
In his introduction to the report, which comes ahead of the group’s annual general meeting later this summer, he said Stagecoach had delivered on the expectations of its board by growing business in the UK and US while improving services for customers and adding value for shareholders.
Remuneration committee chairman Phil White said the firm’s approach to pay had helped it achieve its goals.
“Our approach to remuneration is to ensure that the key components are consistent and easily understood, overall remuneration is not excessive and that the share-based incentives and other elements of variable remuneration provide an alignment between the objectives of executive engagements and shareholders,” he said.
He said a new policy to introduce targets for earnings per share growth would provide more direct alignment between pay and corporate strategy.