DCC overhauls bonus scheme to ease fears of losing Breen
IRISH conglomerate DCC is overhauling its remuneration policy for fear of losing chief executive Tommy Breen.
The move could significantly boost the pay packet of Breen — one of the best-paid bosses of an Irish company.
The company plans to lift the total available under its annual bonus scheme to 200pc of Breen’s salary from 120pc.
Based on Breen’s salary for the year ending March last, that would make almost €1.5m available under the bonus rather than €884,400. A third of the award would be deferred into DCC shares.
Shareholders will vote on the planned changes at DCC’s upcoming AGM, but the outcome of the vote won’t bind the company’s board.
The planned change was revealed in the company’s annual report, in which DCC’s Remuneration Committee chairman Leslie Van de Walle wrote that DCC’s pay arrangements for executives are “now below market levels for companies of equivalent size”.
“The committee believes it is necessary to maintain a competitive level of remuneration in order to retain our successful executive team and so have proposed to adjust their arrangements,” he added.
Last year Breen’s remuneration package came to €4.46m, including €884,000 under the old bonus arrangements. His pay dropped around €300,000 on the previous year, fuelled by a drop in benefits under a long-term incentive plan.
The Irishman oversaw what the company called a “record year of performance and development” in the 12-month period ending last March. It has been on the acquisition trail, spending nearly stg£400m last year on deals including the acquisition of nearly 400 Esso service stations in France. The spending spree helped operating profits reach a record stg£300.5m — up over a third on the previous year.
Former Ulster Bank chief executive and former Paddy Power chief financial officer Cormac McCarthy recently joined the board.
In a statement to shareholders, Breen said that despite “a record year of performance and development, there can be no room for complacency”.
He added: “We expect that the coming year will be another year of profit growth and development for the group.”
Breen also said this would entail “expansion into new geographies and cultures”.