CRH chief gets €1m added to pension

FOR the second year running CRH chief executive Myles Lee had almost €1 million added to his pension pot in 2010 — almost matching his basic pay of €1.15m.

The CRH annual report for 2010, published after the markets closed last night, shows that Mr Lee’s overall remuneration package fell slightly in 2010 to €2.443m from €2.455m in 2009.

The main difference was a €12,000 drop in the cash element of his incentive plan which fell to €288,000 from €300,000. The company’s pre-tax profits fell 27% to €534m.

Company chairman Kieran McGowan, 67, a former IDA chief executive and director of Elan Corporation and Charles Schwab Worldwide Funds, saw his overall remuneration remain flat at €405,000.

Cash and cash equivalents held by the company jumped from €1.37bn in 2009 to €1.730bn in 2010.

In the annual report Mr McGowan said CRH’s overall trading outlook for 2011 remains extremely challenging given forecasts in relation to the pace of recovery from the global recession and the lag effect for recovery in construction markets.

Mr Lee, 57. said that overall demand across the group appears to have stabilised in the past three months and, assuming no major market dislocations, we believe that it is reasonable to look forward to like-for-like revenue growth for 2011 as a whole.

“With significant adjustments to our cost and operational base over the past three difficult years, we look to a year of progress in 2011 and to stronger upward momentum thereafter,” the chief executive said.

Picture: Gary O’Neill