Grafton pay bill falls by €700k

TOTAL remuneration outlay at building materials/ DIY group Grafton fell by €700,000 last year, according to the company’s latest annual report.

The Dublin-headquartered group, which owns the Woodie’s retail chain and the Chadwick’s and Heiton Buckley merchanting businesses, recently reported a decline in annual sales from €2.67 billion to €1.98bn, due to a sharp fall in market demand in 2009.

The company has not increased its basic salary payments to directors since July 2007. That said, with changes in pension allowances and other benefits, total remuneration levels fell from €3.3 million in 2008 to €2.6m last year.

Grafton executive chairman Michael Chadwick’s total package fell from €987,000 to €661,000 last year. Finance director Colm O’Nuallain saw his remuneration dip from €999,000 to €856,000 and group chief operating officer Leo Martin’s package fell from €970,000 in 2008 to €825,000 in 2009.

As said, the aforementioned executive directors saw their basic salary frozen, meaning that they received, respectively, €635,000, €500,000 and €490,000 in actual pay last year.

Although Grafton’s pre-tax profits fell by over €50m last year to just €13.6m, the group said that the second half of the year saw profitability levels improve. Net debt was reduced by €113m to €322m during the year.

The company said its trading outlook was showing signs of improvement and it is emerging from the economic downturn with a well-protected balance sheet.