CRH chief’s pay falls to €2.54m

CRH paid chief executive Myles Lee just under €2.54m last year, nearly 6% less than in the previous year.

However, the Dublin-headquartered internat-ional building materials giant’s latest annual report, published yesterday, shows that overall directors’ pay remained largely unchanged, with 15 executive and non-executive directors sharing about €8m in remuneration, as was the case in 2011.

Mr Lee, who is set to retire at the end of this year, received a total package of €2.536m last year, down by about 5.6% on the near €2.7m he received in 2011.

His basic salary was unchanged at €1.15m.

Maeve Carton, CRH’s finance director, was paid a basic salary of €550,000 in 2012. Again, this figure was unchanged, but her total remuneration package declined, slightly, from €1.05m in 2011 to €921,000 last year.

In all, just over €6.8m was paid to CRH’s four executive directors, pretty much unchanged from 2011’s levels.

Albert Manifold, the group’s chief operating officer, saw his total package fall from nearly €1.54m to just over €1.38m; while Mark Towe, who heads up Oldcastle — the holding company of CRH’s Americas divisions — saw his increase from €1.54m to €1.98m.

Just over €3.5m was paid on combined basic salaries for the four executive directors, the annual report shows.

Another €1.21m was paid to 11 non-executive directors; a figure largely unchanged on the previous year.

Last month, CRH reported a better-than-expected set of financial results for 2012; with profits down but ahead of market expectations and revenue up by 3%.

The company also said that this year will likely see it spend about €600m on acquisitions and investments, mirroring its outlay for each of the past two years.

A committee, headed up by group chairman Nicky Hartery, has also been established to search for a successor to Mr Lee, who is due to step down at the end of December.