Top Directors' Pay Up 14% In Past Year

Pay packets for directors at Britain's biggest listed companies have grown 14% in the past year - more than six times the increase in overall average earnings.

The disparity has been driven by a huge rise in share-based long-term incentive payments, according to a new report.

A study by pay analysts IDS (KOSDAQ: 078780.KQ - news) found that basic pay rises for directors of FTSE 100 firms were "relatively restrained" at 4%, while annual bonuses were 8.8% lower.

But the directors benefited from long-term incentive plans (LTIP), which jumped by 58%, taking the median total from £764,000 to over £1.2m, the study revealed.

Steve Tatton, of IDS, said: "These divergent pay trends highlight the complex make-up of boardroom remuneration, illustrating that while one part of a director's pay package may go down, another part may go up.

"With nearly two-thirds of FTSE directors benefiting from an LTIP award in the latest year, the higher share-based payouts clearly made up for any ground lost in lower annual bonuses."

LTIPs are created to offer incentives over an extended period, usually over three years.

They are normally given as shares and are linked to shareholder returns.

According to a study by Maifest and MM&K, FTSE 100 chief executive total pay sits at 120 times the average earnings of their employees.

This has risen from 47 times the rate in 1998, but down from a pre-crash peak of 151 times the average worker pay in 2007.

TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said: "Britain's top bosses are back to their old tricks as their pay is growing 20 times faster than the average worker.

"It's one thing replacing bonuses with long-term incentive plans, but FTSE 100 companies are simply exploiting this change to make their fat cats even fatter.

"The time has come for legislation to put ordinary workers on the pay committees of companies. This is the only way to bring some sanity to the way in which directors are paid."

A significant portion of FTSE 100 directors were given large share blocks when equity prices were much lower.

With rising share prices the top directors are now seeing windfall gains.