Paddy Power board paid €6.8m last year

THE board of directors at bookmaker Paddy Power received a combined total of just more than €6.82m in remuneration last year — almost €600,000 more than in 2009.

According to the company’s latest annual report, the three executive directors — chief executive Patrick Kennedy, chief operating officer Breon Corcoran and finance director Jack Massey — shared an annual performance related bonus pot of just under €900,000. This was despite the company recording record financial results last year — as already recently reported — with pre-tax profits soaring from €67.2m to €111.3m.

The latest annual report shows that Mr Kennedy’s overall package slipped slightly — from just over €1.42m to just under that figure. He received a basic salary of €678,000 and an annual bonus of €491,000.

Mr Corcoran’s salary amounted to €460,000 and he received a bonus of €244,000. Overall, however, his total remuneration package went down from €827,000 to €785,000. Mr Massey’s package shrank from €555,000 to €547,000. He received a salary of €300,000 and an annual bonus of €159,000.

The report also notes that, under the terms of Paddy Power’s long-term incentive bonus plan, Mr Corcoran has the potential to earn a cash payment of between €250,000 and €1.5m if the company’s online and telephone divisions — excluding the Australian-based operations — generate operating profits, in 2012, “above challenging pre-defined thresholds”; and between €400,000 and €1m if the company’s Australian subsidiary does likewise, on an EBITDA footing.