£1.1m for former Talktalk boss

Talktalk has said former boss Dido Harding earned £1.1 million in annual pay and bonuses weeks after the telecoms giant warned over profits.

The group’s annual report shows Harding, who stepped down on 1 April, was handed a 9 per cent pay rise to £600,000 last July, while she was also awarded a £235,000 annual bonus and £244,000 in shares from a long-term incentive plan.

Details of her bumper final year’s pay come after Talktalk shares were rocked last month – falling 8 per cent in one day – after it posted a lower-thanexpected rise in annual profits and warned over the next year’s results.

The group slashed investor dividend payouts and flagged that full-year earnings in 201718 would come in up to 11 per cent lower, as it embarks on an investment drive to attract more customers.

Results also showed annual earnings for 2016-17 fell short of expectations despite having grown by 17 per cent to £304m.

The group is still recovering after a cyber attack in 2015 saw the personal data of nearly 160,000 people accessed by hackers.

It led to tens of thousands of customers deserting the firm and cost it £60m.

Ms Harding decided last year to donate her annual bonus to charity after the attack, although it is understood she opted to retain the 2016-17 bonus.

All executive directors received annual bonuses for the year to end-march, while most were also awarded longterm incentive scheme shares payouts.

In its annual report, the group’s remuneration committee said directors had volunteered a discount of around 30 per cent on their annual bonuses.