Standard Life has handed its chief executive a salary, bonus and long-term incentive package worth almost £6 million.
David Nish, who took charge of Standard Life in January last year, collected a £1.055 million bonus on top of his £720,000 salary for the 2010 financial year, according to the Edinburgh insurer’s annual report.
His £1.971 million in compensation is almost 66 per cent higher than the previous year, when the former ScottishPower executive was Standard Life’s finance director.
Standard Life also allocated Mr Nish a shares award that could be worth a further £3.997 million, subject to performance targets, including a substantial improvement in operating profits.
Mr Nish will receive 1,894,217 shares in full if he increases Standard Life’s annual operating profits to £800 million by the end of 2013. He will receive the shares, subject to meeting performance targets, in 2014.
Advertisement
Standard Life’s annual report shows that Mr Nish missed out on a performance shares bonus worth £620,374 because targets in 2008 were missed.
Standard Life beat City forecasts with a 7 per cent increase in annual operating profits to £425 million last year, although it disappointed analysts by undershooting on cash generation.
Standard Life’s shares have been under pressure since it reported its results in March.
Shares closed up 7p, or 3.34 per cent, to 213¾p as analysts welcomed the profits targets set for Mr Nish as evidence that it was hoping to grow strongly.