Flutter Entertainment has scrapped plans to sweeten long-term incentives for executive directors but has hiked basic pay, with chief executive Peter Jackson receiving a 26 per cent rise from this month to almost £1.2 million (€1.4 million).
Jackson was paid £8.4 million last year including incentives, bonuses and a salary of £923,000.
The Paddy Power and Betfair operator said in its annual report that most of its largest shareholders backed the planned package of higher pay and incentives after it warned that executive pay lagged what is available elsewhere, particularly in “the US and international digital marketplace”.
The long-term incentive plan has been abandoned, however, as the crisis in Ukraine has rocked world stock markets. The bookies’ shares lost more than 12 per cent this month when it announced pre-tax losses of £288 million for 2021.
Bonuses for employees are being redesigned to help discourage gambling addiction.
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Flutter is seeking a new auditor from next year when KPMG must be replaced to satisfy EU rules. KPMG, which has been auditor since 2002, was paid £5.5 million to sign off on Flutter’s accounts and for other services last year. This included £1.6 million for KPMG in Ireland and £3.6 million for KPMG firms in Britain, America and other countries.
