A slowdown in the investment market and continuing paralysis over Brexit are not having an impact on real estate chiefs’ pay packets, according to EG’s analysis of 21 of the UK’s largest listed property companies.
The combined total pay of all chief executives analysed soared by an average of 50% this year, with two bosses walking away with cheques roughly 15 times higher than what they received the previous year.
Hansteen Holdings bosses scoop highest total pay
Hansteen Holdings’ joint chief executives topped the charts, with a combined remuneration of £44.4m in 2018. Watson and Jones walked away with £22.2m each. This was largely due to the number of shares they have been awarded (around £21.2m each) under the company’s long-term incentive plan.
David Sleath, chief executive of the UK’s largest listed REIT, SEGRO, was the next highest paid in property, pocketing £3.6m. Sleath was followed closely by LondonMetric’s top man, Andrew Jones, who took home £2.6m for 2018, just ahead of St Modwen Properties boss Mark Allan with £2.4m.
Meanwhile, Capital & Regional chief executive Lawrence Hutchings walked away with the lowest total pay this year, which dropped 21% from £957,000 in 2017 to £752,000 in 2018. Assura’s boss Jonathan Murphy was just slightly ahead with £760,000.
Who took a pay cut and who cashed in?
Unsurprisingly, Hansteen Holdings’ top dogs saw the biggest pay increase this year – 15 times higher than in 2017. Unite Group’s Richard Smith saw his total pay soar by 41% to nearly £2m, up from £1.4m in 2017.
Grainger boss Helen Gordon had a 52% pay boost from £985,000 in 2017 to £1.5m in 2018, while Derwent London’s John Burns saw a 31% pay increase from £1.7m to £2.2m in the same comparable period.
However, other bosses weren’t as fortunate. Assura’s Jonathan Murphy had the biggest pay cut in 2018, seeing his package plummet by 50% from £1.5m to £760,000.
Hammerson boss David Atkins’ pay was also slashed by 41%, from nearly £2m in 2017 to roughly £1.2m in 2018. Intu boss David Fischel saw a 37% pay deduction, followed by Shaftesbury’s Brian Bickell, who saw his pay docked 33%.
Who hit the bonus jackpot?
As well as a diminished payslip, Hammerson’s chief executive was the only one to walk away without a bonus.
Aside from Atkins, Fischel pocketed the lowest bonus (£124,000) for 2018, followed by Capital & Counties boss Ian Hawksworth (£216,000). Meanwhile, SEGRO’s Sleath hit the jackpot with an £845,000 bonus, followed by LondonMetric’s Jones, who scooped a £797,000 reward.
Derwent London’s Burns snatched the third-largest bonus for 2018 at £675,000, and in fourth came St Modwen Properties’ Allan, with £661,000.
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