Kingspan slashes executive pay levels

Kingspan cut its combined executive pay levels by nearly 30% last year, according to its newly published annual report.

Total pay for the building materials company’s five executive directors amounted to just shy of €4.5m in 2012; down from a total of almost €6.4m for the previous 12 months.

The company’s share options scheme technically increased remuneration to €5.9m, but this was still down from 2011’s share option-boosted figure of €9.43m.

The basic salaries of chief executive Gene Murtagh and chief financial officer Geoff Doherty were both unchanged at €635,000 and €490,000 respectively and both men’s total remuneration package changed only moderately — Mr Murtagh’s slipping from €1.39m to a shade over €1.38m, and Mr Doherty’s from €1.13m to just under €1.1m.

Only Russell Shiels, president of Kingspan’s access floors and insulated panels division and Peter Wilson, managing director of the group’s insulation boards business, saw their basic salaries rise, although only Mr Shiels’ total package showed an increase — up by 17% to €853,000.

The driver for the decrease in executive pay was a widespread dip in performance-related bonuses.

While Kingspan recently reported a strong set of market estimate-beating results for 2012 — with pre-tax profits up from €77.8m to just under €90m; group revenue rising by 5.3% to €1.63bn and earnings per share ahead by over 18% to 43.6c — its stringent performance targets meant that less than the maximum bonus was paid out last year.

Kingspan’s shareholders approved its performance share plan nearly five years ago. Part of the basis for bonus awarding is how well the company’s total shareholder return compares to its main peers.

According to the Cavan-based company’s annual report, it came first — from 2010 to 2012 — in its peer group, which included the likes of CRH, Saint-Gobain, Grafton Group, Lafarge, SIG, Wienerberger and Travis Perkins.