Greencore chief’s pay packet jumps to €1.16m

GREENCORE chief executive Patrick Coveney’s total pay package jumped to €1.16 million in 2009 from €687,000 a year earlier when no bonuses were paid to the company’s top executives after massive losses were uncovered at a Scottish water subsidiary.

And disgraced former Anglo Irish Bank chairman Sean FitzPatrick was paid €13,000 in directors fees for his months on the board before he resigned in December of 2008. A year earlier he earned €51,000 in directors’ fees.

Mr Coveney is now also the biggest shareholder on the board of the company with 404,500 shares, worth €566,300.

His holding, which has increased from 102,000 in 2008 and just 6,000 in 2007, is now greater than the combined shareholding of the rest of the company’s board. Mr Coveney had a basic pay of €699,000, a bonus of €339,000 and pension contribution of €78,000

Greencore’s chief financial officer Geoff Doherty’s gross income from the company hit €757,000,(bonus €218,000) up from €503,000 and chief operating officer Tony Hynes’s package increased to €609,000 (bonus €170,000) from €495,000. The CEO of UK Convenience Foods Diane Walker, who was appointed during the year, had a total pay package of €414,000 (bonus €121,000).

The company’s annual report for the year ended September 25, 2009, shows that the main shareholders in Greencore are: Polaris Capital Management LLC 12.04%, Letko, Brosseau & Associates 10.65% and JP Morgan Chase & Co 4.55%.

The annual report also reveals that Greencore plans to close its two defined benefit pension scheme to new employees. These have a combined deficit of €99m, up from €68.1m a year earlier.

“In addition, discussions are underway with the trustee boards on revised funding plans for the group’s two principal schemes.

“Whilst these discussions are not yet complete the period in which to recover deficits is likely to be extended beyond what has been the norm up until recently,” the company said.

Greencore Group Plc, the supplier of more than 100 million ready-meals a year, reported a net loss of €9.9m in the year ended September 25, compared with a profit of €53.4m in the year-earlier period, the Dublin-based.

The company had one-time net loss of €25.2m on discontinued activities and restructuring.

Sales from continuing operations fell 16% to €1.1 billion, a fall of 0.8% after stripping out currency swings.

Greencore makes about 80% of its operating profit in pounds and reports in euro.

Operating profit before one-time items fell 5.7% to €72.9m.