31/10/2001

‘Fat cat’ pay continues to rise

New research by the Incomes Data Services (IDS) has revealed that despite government moves to clamp down on "fat-cat" salaries, boardroom pay continues to grow.

In their survey IDS calculated that basic salaries of chief executives in FTSE 100 companies jumped by an average of 14.8 per cent in the 12 months to July. When bonuses were added in, that average growth was as high as 18.3 per cent, taking the average FTSE 100 chief executive's pay to a total of more than £960,000.

While Trade Secretary Patricia Hewitt recently unveiled new rules, which it hoped would force companies to put boardroom compensation to an annual shareholder vote, many company directors have continues to gain huge pay rises. For example, the single biggest gain among large firms was a 321 per cent surge in average board salary at mobile giant Vodafone.

Among the 2,000 directors surveyed by IDS, one in four received a total pay rise of more than 25 per cent. In the oil and gas business, top executive directors earned basic salaries of an average £384,000, almost three times as much as their tech-industry peers.

However, IDS said that the main reason for the pay surge was hikes in directors' bonus packages, rather than increases in basic pay. (MB)

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