Australasian executives get less incentive-linked pay

By NZPA

Monday 14th October 2002

The growth rate of executive pay in Australia and New Zealand has halved this year, the Sydney Morning Herald reported a survey saying today.

A survey of 54 of the top 100 companies in Australia and New Zealand by management consulting firm Hay Group said total CEO remuneration, which includes fixed pay and incentives, grew by 9.4 percent this year compared with 18.5 percent in 2001.

Senior executive salary packages grew by 8.9 percent, compared to 16.4 percent the previous year.

The results showed businesses were becoming serious about the link between company performance and executive pay, Kim Neuhold, a senior consultant of Hay Group's executive remuneration operations, told the paper.

"For many corporations 2002 has been a tough year, so as corporate performance eased off so did the upward spiral in remuneration," she said.

Executives in financial services got the highest increase -- 16.2 per cent on average -- and those in service companies such as telcos, health or transport businesses got the lowest -- 0.6 per cent on average.

Ms Neuhold said this reflected how companies in the financial sectors had performed on a share price basis over the past year, while telcos had taken a bath.

On average, CEOs received 76 percent of their incentive-based payments compared to 100 percent last year. Fixed salaries rose by about 7 percent, compared to 8.5 per cent last year.

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