Metcash boss loses bonus in Coles return

METCASH supermarkets boss Steven Cain is walking away from around $4 million in bonuses to return to Coles, this time as its chief executive.

Metcash’s remuneration report details the bonuses and incentives Mr Cain has given up as the Metcash board exercised its discretion to cancel short-term and long-term incentives he would otherwise have been entitled to.

Mr Cain, who resigned from Metcash in May, is forgoing around $2.25m in various longterm incentives, in addition to various short-term bonuses.

He will also forfeit sign-on bonuses which were conditional on Mr Cain remaining in the role for three years, including two payments of $659,351 in the 2016 and 2017 financial years, which have now been reversed.

Mr Cain started at Metcash in August 2015 and resigned in March this year.

He will leave the company in September this year.

Mr Cain knows the Coles business intimately, having been responsible for supermarkets, convenience stores, Liquorland and Vintage Cellars for 14 months between 2003 and 2005. He was ultimately shown the door due to conflicts over the pace of strategic change.

He will return to Coles ahead of its planned demerger by its parent company Wesfarmers, due in November.

Announcing Mr Cain’s appointment, Wesfarmers boss Rob Scott alluded to those roadblocks and said they no longer existed.

He said that Mr Cain had been “basically” blocked in implementing much-needed innovation.

The departure of Mr Cain, regarded as an expert operator in the industry, comes at a time of growing headwinds for Metcash.

Metcash supermarkets has lost market share over the past three years, and absolute sales are lower today than they were in 2015.