A shareholder activist group is now up in arms over the fat paycheck that will be awarded to Paddy Power Chief Executive Andy McCue, The Irish Times reported.
“Excessive” was how Pensions & Investment Research Consultants (PIRC) described the expected total €3.7 million 2015 pay that McCue will receive after the latter has decided to step down as the chief operating officer of the merged online betting firm.
McCue, credited for being the architect of Paddy Power’s £5 billion merger with Betfair, is reported to get a hefty pay package, which is broken down into the following: €700,000 salary, €536,000 bonus, €173,000 in pension and benefits and €2.312 million in shares, which the report valued at €111.44 each.
PIRC is convinced that the pay package of McCue, which is 406 percent of his salary, is exorbitant and that Paddy Power stakeholders should reject it.
Apart from the issue on McCue’s pay, PIRC has asked investors to oppose Paddy Power CEO Breon Corcoran’s £11.5 million reward package.
The advisory group pointed out that the online betting firm failed to publish details of Corcoran and financial officer Alex Gersh’s total 2015 pay, who are expected to get £700,000 and £440,000, respectively.
PIRC also dissuaded investors from voting for Corcoran’s and Gersh’s appointments, the duo are on 12-month rolling contracts. Paddy Power, for its part, remains mum on the PIRC’s recommendations.
While the group is considered to be Europe’s biggest corporate governance and shareholder advisory consultancy, it has been said that only a fraction of one per cent of its shareholders follow the consultancy’s advice.
Paddy Power Betfair isn’t the only online betting firms to fall foul over excessive pay for company executives.
Last week, disgruntled shareholders of Ladbrokes assailed the high salaries awarded to chief executive Jim Mullen, who took on the post in March last year; his predecessor, Richard Glynn; and Finance director Ian Bull.
The Telegraph reported that Mullen was paid a total of £567,000 for the nine months he was in the role, while Glynn pocketed £734,000 in 2014, and almost £4.7m in 2013, thanks to the payment of some long-term incentives.
Bull, meanwhile, received a £715,000 paycheck in 2015, higher than the £503,000 salary he got in 2014.
In a statement, Ladbrokes assured that shareholders that their observations would play a “key part” in the board’s thinking on remuneration in the future.
