Tesco boss paid £4.7m after profits more than triple

THE chief executive of Tesco earned £4.7m last year as the economy recovered from the Covid pandemic but faced rising levels of inflation.

It comes days after Tesco’s chairman, John Allan, called for a windfall tax to be levied on energy companies’ profits in a move he said would help households struggling with the soaring cost of living. He was paid £695,000.

Chief executive Ken Murphy’s pay included a £3.2m bonus – the highest such award since 2016 – after Tesco’s profits more than tripled.

Mr Murphy is in line for a maximum payday of £10.7m this financial year, according to the annual report, but only if he hits ambitious targets such as increasing the supermarket’s share price by 50pc.

Finance chief Imran Nawaz took home £5.4m last year, including a socalled golden hello of £3.5m to compensate for the pay he missed out on following his departure from Tate & Lyle, his former employer. His maximum pay this year could be £5.2m.

Tesco recorded £54bn in sales last year, while pre-tax profits rose to £2bn from £636m. Steve Golsby, the head of Tesco’s remuneration committee, said the board was satisfied that the bonuses were “appropriate and reflect performance over the respective performance periods”.

The top brass will be able to receive an annual bonus even if Tesco does not hit all of its targets after a proposed change in the pay rules. However, the pay will also be determined by new criteria such as cutting food waste.

Mr Murphy vowed to continue waging a war on Aldi by keeping prices low for shoppers “in their hour of greatest need”.