Departing Fonterra CEO Theo Spierings paid another $8 million

Former Fonterra chief executive Theo Spierings was paid $8 million in the past year - but it doesn't appear he will get a golden handshake from the co-operative.

Spierings, who officially left the organisation this month, was paid $8.1m in the 12 months to June 30 - slightly less than the $8.3m he was paid in 2017.

Almost $4.2m of what he received in 2018 related to bonuses that were earned in previous years but only paid out in the past 12 months.

However, the fact Spierings missed bonus targets in 2018 suggests he won't be getting a golden handshake.

Spierings' base salary of $2.46m stayed the same in 2018 and he earned a short-term bonus of $979,702 (versus $1.18m in 2017). Under Fonterra's pay scheme he could have earned up to $1.48m worth of short-term incentives.

But it was the longer-term incentives where Speirings' remuneration took the biggest hit.

He earned no long-term bonus in 2018 (versus the $4.43m in 2017). Payment of these sorts of incentives is typically delayed and in the years after they are earned.

No pay details have been disclosed of interim chief executive Miles Hurrell, who took up his position last month.

Spierings' pay last year led to calls to reign in levels of chief executive remuneration and caused angst amongst some of its farmer-investors.

Fonterra today reported a net loss of $196 million for the July year.

The previous year's net profit was $745m.

The co-op said its normalised earnings before interest and tax was $902m, down 22 per cent.

Fonterra said its total cash payout for the year would be $6.79, comprising a Farmgate Milk Price $6.69 per kgMS and a 10c dividend.

The co-op said its normalised gross margin fell to 15.4 per cent from 16.9 per cent.

Its return on capital fell to 6.3 per cent from 8.3 per cent, while its gearing ratio bumped up to 48.4 per cent from 44.3 per cent.