M&S chief awarded £2.5m while retailer posted drop in profits

Published on 08/06/2012 00:00

The boss of Marks & Spencer, Marc Bolland, was awarded a £2.5 million pay deal despite the retailer recording its first fall in profits in three years.

While the total package is a marked reduction on the previous year’s deal, which totalled around £4.96m, it comes after a year in which the Dutchman was forced to slash his sales targets.

Bolland was awarded a salary of £975,000, an annual bonus of £332,000, the same amount in deferred shares and £500,000 left over from his golden handshake after joining from supermarket chain Morrison, as well as other cash allowances and benefits, M&S’s annual report yesterday revealed.

Shareholders will be given an opportunity to vote on the remuneration report at the high street giant’s annual meeting on 10 July.

A number of top-flight companies, from banks to pharmaceuticals, have faced investor anger over excessive boardroom pay in what was dubbed the “shareholder spring”.

A failure to meet pre-tax profit targets for the year was behind the drop in the total pay package, although he was rewarded for meeting other targets encompassing areas such as cost-savings and developing the business overseas.

M&S saw underlying pre-tax profits drop 1 per cent to £705.9m in the year to 31 March, while total sales grew 2 per cent to £9.9 billion.

Bolland set a target to grow revenues by between £1.5bn and £2.5bn over three years but, as a result of the harsh economic climate, he cut this target to between £1.1bn and £1.7bn.

Meanwhile, Sainsbury’s said chief executive Justin King had taken a 9 per cent cut in his overall pay package, despite Britain’s third-biggest grocer last month posting a 7 per cent rise in full-year profit that came in at the top end of City expectations.

King’s basic salary rose to £920,000 from £900,000 a year earlier but his annual cash bonus, share awards and long-term incentive plan all took cuts, reducing his total package to just under £3.4m from £3.7m a year ago.

King had been entitled to a cash bonus of up to 120 per cent of salary but received 55.9 per cent.