Unilever boss in 24pc pay boost

UNILEVER chief executive Paul Polman received a 24pc pay hike for the period in which third quarter sales were the worst for four years.

The consumer goods giant behind Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream, Persil and Marmite, paid Polman received a total of £6.9m, which includes a base salary of £865,000 and various other benefits. This was an increase from £5.6m in 2013.

While the firm bounced back in the fourth quarter with underlying sales up 4.1pc much of this was due to improved performance in emerging markets which saw sales grow 8.4pc.

This was an improvement on the third quarter when rising onion prices in India and freak currency issues were behind the anglo-Dutch firm’s worst quarterly trading performance in four years.

Polman had been forced to sound the alert over disappointing sales after a large decline in a raft of currencies all at the same time.

However, he insisted there had never been a profit warning.