Advertisement
UK markets close in 5 hours 50 minutes
  • FTSE 100

    7,956.26
    +24.28 (+0.31%)
     
  • FTSE 250

    19,806.81
    -3.85 (-0.02%)
     
  • AIM

    742.30
    +0.19 (+0.03%)
     
  • GBP/EUR

    1.1691
    +0.0022 (+0.19%)
     
  • GBP/USD

    1.2616
    -0.0022 (-0.17%)
     
  • Bitcoin GBP

    55,811.31
    +203.07 (+0.37%)
     
  • CMC Crypto 200

    885.54
    0.00 (0.00%)
     
  • S&P 500

    5,248.49
    +44.91 (+0.86%)
     
  • DOW

    39,760.08
    +477.75 (+1.22%)
     
  • CRUDE OIL

    82.04
    +0.69 (+0.85%)
     
  • GOLD FUTURES

    2,224.70
    +12.00 (+0.54%)
     
  • NIKKEI 225

    40,168.07
    -594.66 (-1.46%)
     
  • HANG SENG

    16,541.42
    +148.58 (+0.91%)
     
  • DAX

    18,494.39
    +17.30 (+0.09%)
     
  • CAC 40

    8,246.55
    +41.74 (+0.51%)
     

Anglo American boss: I'm happy to take a pay cut

Mark Cutifani, boss of Anglo American, has said he is happy to take a pay cut as part of an overhaul to the mining group’s remuneration policy.

Anglo was stung last year by a shareholder revolt on executive pay, when 42pc of investors voted against its policy in a non-binding ballot.

Since then the company has proposed a cap on how much executives can earn from share awards under its long-term incentive plan. This change, should it be approved by investors, would be imposed retrospectively on grants made in 2014, 2015 and 2016, and lead to fall in Mr Cutifani’s total pay package.

“I’d prefer to take a pay cut and for the shareholders to be happy and supportive than to keep the policy as it is,” Mr Cutifani told The Telegraph. “I’d prefer to be a respected and supported CEO of Anglo American and be paid less than to be pilloried for all the wrong reasons.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Mr Cutifani admitted that his award last year was skewed to his benefit because of Anglo’s low share price. His total remuneration was £3.4m, down from £3.7m the year before, but shares vesting in his long-term performance plan paid out £778,000, despite Anglo closing 2015 as the worst-performing stock in the FTSE 100. 

The value of that award has risen as the company bounced back in 2016 to become the best-performing stock. Last week it announced a return to annual profit after four years of statutory losses.

Anglo’s remuneration committee, led by Sir Philip Hampton, with the help of outgoing chairman Sir John Parker, had listened to shareholders’ concerns on pay and tried to come up with a “fair” outcome, Mr Cutifani said.

Anglo American

“I understand why people look at those salaries and say, gee, they’re pretty high,” Mr Cutifani added. However he pointed out that Anglo had to compete to hire staff with mining expertise from around the world. “When I recruit a mining person, there aren’t a lot of them in London, therefore I’m competing on a global basis. You’ve got to get the balance right.”

Anglo American has promised to reinstate dividends from next year, after cancelling them during the downturn. Lower costs and rising prices in 2016 helped it cut its debt last year, but Mr Cutifani insisted the miner would “hold its discipline”. He has pencilled in another $1bn in savings for 2017 and wants to shave another $1.5bn off the debt pile to $7bn by the end of the year.