Centrica CEO's annual remuneration package rises nearly 40 pct

LONDON, March 22 (Reuters) - Iain Conn, chief executive of Britain's largest energy supplier Centrica (Frankfurt: A0DK6K - news) , received a nearly 40 percent rise in annual remuneration to more than 4 million pounds, the company's yearly report showed on Wednesday.

Conn, who joined Centrica in January 2015 after a career at oil major BP, will take home 4.151 million pounds ($5.2 million) for his work in 2016, up from 3.025 million pounds for 2015.

Most of the increase is due to a share award he was granted when he joined the company, to compensate for long-term BP share awards he forfeited when he left the oil company, Centrica said.

His remuneration package has previously come under attack from shareholders, a third of whom voted against his reward at the company's annual general meeting in 2015.

Support improved last year but about 15 percent of shareholders still remained opposed.

"The awards were a critical part of securing his employment in the face of significant competition for his services," said Lesley Knox, chairman of Centrica's remuneration committee, in the company's annual report.

Conn's 1.402 million pound recruitment award for 2016 will vest in April 2018 and its final value will depend on Centrica's share price at that time, Centrica said.

The heads of Britain's top 100 listed companies earn on average almost 400 times more than a worker on minimum wage, a report from the Equality Trust, a campaign group set up to reduce economic inequality, said on Wednesday.

Centrica returned to profit growth in 2016 thanks to volatile energy prices and colder weather but it disappointed investors when it failed to announce a dividend increase last month.

Centrica cut its dividend two years ago and again last year as earnings were hit hard by weak energy prices.

It said that, despite a rise in profits, it did not have enough capital available to return to shareholders now as historically low interest rates meant its pension liabilities had increased significantly.

($1 = 0.8024 pounds) (Reporting by Karolin Schaps; Editing by Ken Ferris)