Repelling a hostile takeover offer from Pfizer proved a lucrative outcome for AstraZeneca’s chief executive who was rewarded for his efforts with an above-target pay package.
Pascal Soriot earned £3.5 million for 2014, an increase on his pay of £3.3 million for the previous year. The drugs company’s finance director, Marc Dunoyer, received £1.9 million.
Mr Soriot, a Frenchman who originally trained as a veterinary surgeon, joined AstraZeneca in 2012. His pay is likely to begin rising sharply from 2016 onwards when long-term incentive plans, which have a three or four-year time horizon, begin to vest. In future years, he could get payouts of as much as £9 million.
AstraZeneca’s annual report, published this morning, reveals that defeating Pfizer was a factor in a decision by the pharmaceuticals group’s remuneration committee to boost share awards that will mature in future years.
Mr Soriot was granted share awards worth 285 per cent of his salary, above his performance target of 250 per cent, which will vest from 2017 onwards.
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“We believe that it is strongly in the interests of shareholders that Mr Soriot’s compensation opportunity is both competitive and motivational,” said John Varley, the former Barclays boss who chairs AstraZeneca’s pay panel.
AstraZeneca has landed in hot water over its pay policies in the past. Last year, only 61 per cent of investors voted in favour of the group’s remuneration practices.
Two years earlier, institutional investors criticised a £9.1 million pay award for David Brennan, the company’s previous chief executive who was ousted amid discontent over his performance in 2012.