The pay of Irish corporate bosses surged last year even as share prices tumbled and customers were hammered by inflation, analysis by the Irish Independent can reveal.
ost chief executives of the Iseq 20 group of top companies on the Irish Stock Exchange (ISE) saw their compensation rise – in some cases significantly – as the return of cash bonuses and share incentives fattened compensation packages.
But this happened against a backdrop of falling stock prices as markets reacted to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, surging energy prices, the biggest inflation numbers in 40 years, and a rapid increase in interest rates in the second half of the year.
The Iseq 20 index fell by 18.9pc in 2022, wiping out billions for investors despite many component companies enjoying bumper profits and wide margins as they pushed through price increases.
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The average CEO pay for firms in the Iseq 20 index came in at just under €2.9m in 2022, when base salary, benefits, bonuses and share awards were included.
The biggest winners for the year were the chief executives of housebuilder Glenveagh Properties, ferries company Irish Continental Group (ICG), and agricultural services business Origin Enterprises, all of whom made multiples of their 2021 pay last year.
Glenveagh’s Stephen Garvey (€1.6m) and Origin’s Sean Coyle (€1m) each doubled their pay, mainly through hitting bonus and long-term incentive plan targets, while ICG’s Eamonn Rothwell (the company’s biggest shareholder) saw his pay nearly quadruple to nearly €3m as the transport business emerged from the pandemic.
However, the range of pay awards varied widely from company to company, from CRH’s Albert Manifold at the top with €12m to Permanent TSB’s Eamonn Crowley at the bottom with €572,000.
Notably, some of the biggest earners saw their packages shrink in 2022, mainly due to the lacklustre performance of shares. Mr Manifold took nearly a €2m pay cut on his 2021 compensation. Kingspan’s Gene Murtagh was the hardest hit, with his remuneration cut in half from €5.7m to €2.9m.
Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary was a winner in relative terms, as his base salary and cash bonus were restored to pre-Covid levels at nearly €1m, but the 10 million shares that are the real meat of his current contract haven’t vested yet as the airline’s stock and profits have suffered due to the pandemic and the war.