No pay hikes for HUL CEO, CFO in FY17
MUMBAI: Average salary raises for managers at Hindustan Unilever Ltd, India’s largest packaged consumer goods company, moderated in 2016-17, according to the company’s annual report.
Salaries of chief executive officer and managing director Sanjiv Mehta and chief finance officer PB Balaji remained the same as in 2015-16.
Mehta took home ₹14.20 crore and Balaji, ₹8.33 crore in financial year 2017, according to a PTI report.
Management board members Pradeep Banerjee, executive director, supply chain, and Dev Bajpai, company secretary and executive director, legal and corporate affairs received hikes of 8% each, taking home ₹4.75 crore and ₹4.69 crore respectively. This was higher than the average percentage increase in the median remuneration of the company’s employees for the financial year, 3.42%, according to the same PTI report.
“The remuneration paid during the year is as per the remuneration policy of the company,” said HUL, adding the average increase is also an outcome of the company’s market position.
HUL had 5,976 permanent employees on its rolls as on March 31, 2017.
“Earlier this year, the parent has declared that it will improve its operating profit margins by 300 basis points. India contributes 8-9% to Unilever’s revenues and hence, we can expect moderation and rationalisation in salaries and advertising to take place here,” said Abneesh Roy, senior vice-president, institutional equities at Edelweiss Securities.
In the March quarter, staff costs were down by 12.4% and advertising and promotion expenses were down by 1.4% over the year-ago period.
In fiscal 2015, Mehta’s salary rose by over 15%, according to a Business Standard report.
“In the last three to four years, salaries across industry have been on the rise. We can now expect some rationalizing to take place,” said K Sudarshan, managing partner (Asia) at EMA Partners International, an executive search firm.