WELLINGTON - Lion Nathan chief executive Gordon Cairns took a half-million-dollar pay cut in the year to August, but before you get your hankies out he was still New Zealand's top paid executive, on a cool $2.29 million.
Lion's annual report shows Mr Cairns' package was made up of a
base salary of $1.1 million, bumped up by share awards and long-term incentives accrued, but payable subject to the performance of the company.
A company spokesman said Mr Cairns' salary would probably be down because Lion's performance was not as strong as last year. He stressed that the accrued proportion of the package was not paid out until after a three-year cycle.
Lion's earnings before interest and tax rose 2.8 per cent to $356 million from $346.3 million.
Director Mike Smith, a former executive director, earned $1.58 million in the year, bumping up his director's fees through consultancy work, and two other executives earned between $1.27 million and $1.39 million.
