Sainsbury’s chief in £3.8m pay deal as food cost crisis bites

SAINSBURY’S has handed its boss a £3.8m pay-and-bonus package – as the supermarket faces anger over shareholder payouts while customers struggle with the cost of living crisis.

Simon Roberts, the chief executive, picked up £2.8m in bonuses for the year to March 5, on top of his £875,000-a-year salary and other benefits.

His pay deal includes a £1.7m annual bonus and £1.1m in long-term incentive scheme shares.

It marks a hefty rise on the previous year, when he earned £1.3m, although he started in the role part-way into 2020-21 having taken over from ex-boss Mike Coupe in June 2020.

Last year, Mr Roberts – formerly the group’s retail and operations head – waived his £1m annual bonus due to the pandemic.

Sainsbury’s said his pay for 2020-21 would have been £2.9m on a like-forlike basis had he not forgone his bonus.

The pay details come as the group is already in the line of fire after announcing a big rise in dividend payouts to shareholders while customers are struggling to make ends meet due to soaring costs. Investors – many of which are foreign – are soon to share out £300m of dividends, up 24pc on 2021 and the largest since 2015.

The High Pay Centre has criticised Sainsbury’s for the decision and urged businesses to “do the right thing by shareholders, customers and workers”.

There has also been pressure on Sainsbury’s over pay and investors will get to vote next month on a resolution filed by a coalition of shareholders led by Shareaction calling for the chain to pay the “real living wage” to all its workers by July 2023.

Since May, Sainsbury’s has been paying the real living wage rates to all its directly employed staff – one of the first major retailers to do so – but does not yet for third-party contractors, such as cleaners and security guards.