Finance Directors Average Earnings Exceed £1m

Pay And Bonuses Combine To Take Exec Pay Over £1m

Finance directors in the UK's top companies received a 9.5% increase in pay and bonuses last year, taking median income to more than £1 million, according to a new study.

Increases in the pay of finance executives in FTSE-100 companies were driven by large bonus payments, said Incomes Data Services (IDS).

Median earnings rose to £1.6m when long-term incentive plans and share options were included, said the report.

Basic pay increased by 2.4% in the last financial year for the directors, and by 1.9% for finance executives in other firms, according to the research.

Adam Cohen, author of the report, said: "The so-called 'shareholder spring' has seen executive remuneration in the spotlight once again. While salary rises in the FTSE-100 have been modest, bonuses, which account for a greater proportion of pay, have increased much more strongly."

IDS said some companies have felt under pressure to build more attractive bonuses into pay packages for finance directors to retain them, or to entice skilled finance directors away from their existing employers.

According to IDS, the median bonus payment for a FTSE-100 finance director was equal to 127% of salary in the last year.

Firms in the finance, utilities and construction sectors showed the greatest disparity between basic salary and total earnings, suggesting that these sectors are most highly geared towards variable pay, the report added.

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