Bonuses return for United Drug executives last year

TOTAL remuneration levels for executive directors at Irish healthcare services group United Drug rose last year, as bonus payments made a return on the back of an increase in the company’s financial performance.

The drug wholesale and multi-disciplined healthcare services provider saw both full-year revenue and pre-tax profits grow by 1% in the 12 months to the end of last September.

While the dividend payment to shareholders rose by 40 cent, on a year-on-year basis, so too did the overall remuneration outlay to the group’s executive director team — going from just under €2.83 million in 2009 to €3.42m last year.

Group chief executive, Liam Fitzgerald saw his basic salary fall by €10,000 to €570,000. The main element in his total remuneration package rising from €917,000 to nearly €1.2m was a cash performance bonus worth €353,000.

United Drug’s finance director, Barry McGrane, saw his basic salary slip from €309,000 in 2009 to €304,000 last year, but picked up a cash performance bonus of €91,000 which helped bump up his total package to €529,000.

There were also healthy rises in remuneration for the group’s other executive directors — Annette Flynn Alan Ralph and Chris Corbin — as outlined in the company’s latest annual report. The group paid no performance related bonuses to directors in 2009.

Pay levels to non-executive directors remained largely unchanged.