ITV boss Crozier watches pay packet swell to £8.4m

Adam Crozier, the Scots-born chief executive of broadcaster ITV, saw his total pay package almost treble to more than £8 million last year after he cashed in on bonus share awards.

Adam Croziers pay packet rose by 189 per cent lasy year. Picture: Contributed

Along with a basic salary of £841,000, up from £818,000 in 2012, the former Royal Mail boss received more than £2m under ITV’s performance share plan and almost £4m through a “joining award” granted in 2010.

Andy Haste, chairman of the group’s remuneration committee, said: “The level of vesting of both awards reflects the outstanding performance and a significant increase in share price.”

Once pensions and other benefits were taken into account, Crozier’s total pay deal soared to almost £8.4m for 2013, an increase of 189 per cent on the previous year’s total of £2.9m.

ITV last month unveiled a 27 per cent jump in annual profits to £581m and said investors were set to share a special dividend payout of £161m following its fourth consecutive year of double-digit earnings growth.

Revenues at the group’s production arm, ITV Studios, rose by a fifth, boosted by hit dramas such as Broadchurch and Downton Abbey, along with entertainment shows like Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway and I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here.

Analysts at Liberum Capital said yesterday that improving consumer sentiment bodes well for many advertising-focused groups such as ITV and Glasgow-based peer STV.