C&C to ditch long-term incentive plan for executives
BULMERS maker C&C is plotting an overhaul of its remuneration policy which is set to make it less generous to management.
The company’s remuneration committee is ditching one of its long-term incentive plans (LTIPs).
LTIPs typically involve executives receiving share entitlements if they are able to achieve certain performance targets.
Now C&C will use just one LTIP with more performance hurdles to be crossed before share awards can be made to directors.
In addition, the maximum pension provision for executives is being reduced, and for LTIP awards made after 2019 a two- year holding period will apply to the executives’ shares.
Remuneration committee chairman Stewart Gilliland said the committee was “seeking to simplify the variable pay structure and is also proposing a number of minor changes to reflect the latest corporate governance best practice and market developments”.
He added that the ditched LTIP had “become less relevant and we have not been using it more broadly within the business”.
CEO Stephen Glancey saw his remuneration package fall last year, to €994,000 from €1.05m. However, after exercising a number of share options, his bank balance was boosted by more than €100,000 as of the date the options were turned into shares.
The company’s Irish division has had a turbulent run, with Bulmers facing tough market competition from Heineken’s Orchard Thieves. Heineken has just launched another cider called Appleman’s, which is likely to increase the pressure further.
However, the Irish division accounts for a smaller part of the overall business after a number of recent landmark deals. C&C bought UK distributor Matthew Clark Bibendum, which should help increase its route to market, and it also has taken a large minority stake in pub group Admiral Taverns.
The remuneration plans are revealed in the company’s annual report, which was published yesterday.
Mr Glancey said work is progressing on Matthew Clark Bibendum, which was bought when its parent Conviviality went into administration.
“We have made great strides in getting this high quality business back on its feet. There is still much more work to do, but stock levels are now returning to more normalised levels,” he wrote in the report.
The company was seeking to simplify the variable pay structure