TV boss has $460k bonus, staff get $1k
TVNZ chief executive Kevin Kenrick dished out a $1000 bonus to 500 staff in August.
At the time, NZ Herald's Hamish Fletcher called the one-off payments a “cheap trick”.
Now, the pre-Christmas payout look even cheaper, with the state broadcaster's annual report to Parliament revealing Kenrick got a $72,334 bump in total remuneration last year, taking his total pay to $1.43 million — with his personal bonus swelling to $460,054.
Kenrick's base salary remained at $840,857, but his holiday, super and short-term incentive payments all rose. The boosted payments follow a round of restructuring, which included newsroom cutbacks.
The TVNZ boss can point to a 2018 financial year net profit of $5.1m, up from $1.4m in 2017, but well shy of its $12.7m profit in 2016, when his total remuneration was $1.1m.
A TVNZ spokeswoman said Kenrick and chairwoman Therese Walsh were travelling overseas and unavailable for interview.
Walsh said in a pre-prepared statement: “CEO remuneration is set and considered carefully by the Board each year. It's based on independent market advice and the Board's rigorous assessment of his performance against specific objectives each financial year . . . . the CEO's base salary didn't increase last year. The primary driver of his increased remuneration was performance-based.”
Asked what performance goals had been achieved by Kenrick, the spokeswoman said, “We won't be going into specifics around targets”.
The report also reveals that TVNZ has 212 staff earning more than $100,000, down from 219 last year.
As TVNZ released its annual result, Kenrick told the Herald its focus was on operational profit which was a better reflection of the cash delivery of the business.
TVNZ's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and fair value adjustments rose 58.6 per cent to $24.6m and were largely stable after adjusting for a one-off impact last year for an onerous contract position.
“We don't expect to repeat this level of profit growth in future years, but it has created a one-off opportunity for us to thank our people for their contribution and commitment to TVNZ's success,” Kenrick said as the $1000 bonuses were handed out.
Kenrick said the broadcaster had stable revenue for the first time in six years and the highest share of TV advertising revenue since 2010.