Lloyds defends boss’s pay

THE boss of Lloyds deserves his £6.3m pay because he does such an ‘arduous’ job, according to the bank’s chairman.

Antonio Horta-Osorio works extremely hard and earns a fair amount for his work, Lord Blackwell said.

Horta-Osorio, 55, has made more than £51m in eight years running the bank.

Responding to shareholders at Lloyds’ annual meeting in Edinburgh, Blackwell said: ‘Antonio and others have earned, through their performance, the rewards that their contracts entitle them to.

‘I don’t think there are many who would do the arduous hours and the arduous acts that our executives take on, for free.’

Lloyds avoided a major shareholder revolt on Horta-Osorio’s pay. Only 8pc of voting shareholders opposed the lender’s remuneration report, a far smaller pay rebellion than at rivals Barclays and Standard Chartered this year.

But Mark Brown, of Lloyds trade union BTU, said Blackwell’s attempt to justify the pay and pensions packages ‘bordered on the comic’.

He added: ‘To say they deserved their multi-million-pound packages because of their arduous working hours is a kick in the teeth for ordinary members of staff who work just as hard for a fraction of the pay.’ ÷ Lloyds will next year start paying a dividend every three months, instead of twice each year.