The top two bosses at UK shipbroker Clarksons have taken home more cash after a record 2023 for the business.
The company’s annual report reveals chief executive Andi Case earned an unchanged basic salary of £550,000.
But a bonus of £10.4m, plus pension payments and other benefits, brought his total package to £11.9m ($15.1m). This compares to £10.11m in 2022.
Finance director and operating chief Jeff Woyda earned £350,000, plus a bonus of £2.7m, for a total of £3.7m, up from £3.3m the year before.
Director Tim Miller, chairman of the remuneration committee, told TradeWinds the bosses had delivered another record year, with a 21st straight annual dividend payment.
“Clarksons is reaping the rewards of almost two decades of sustained and strategic investment led by the executive management team, building a market-leading business across all segments,” he said.
“Andi Case is also a significant revenue generator for the firm,” the director added.
Miller explained executive pay arrangements are in line with those of other leading bosses in its market.
“It is essential that we retain and attract the best colleagues and leaders in a highly competitive market,” he said.
The company said it continues to recognise the need to pay other staff appropriately, with 83% of the workforce receiving bonuses for 2023, and 67% winning salary increases.
The bonus level increased by 6%.
Keeping their cash
After waiving £5.5m in favour of bonus pools for colleagues over the past nine years, Case and Woyda are keeping all their money this year.
Clarksons said the duo had determined there was no need to waive any remuneration “as the record profits across all segments of the business are sufficient to properly reward all employees under the pre-existing bonus pools”.
Miller said in the report: “Whilst we recognise that our executive pay arrangements do not accord with the norm for FTSE 250 companies, they are proven to work in the context of our business and competitive environment, delivering outstanding shareholder value, and incentivising and retaining our highly effective and long-serving executive directors.”
New executives will not be employed on these “legacy” terms, Miller added.
“We do recognise that our arrangements appear increasingly unusual against UK-listed company practice and that any new arrangements should be more consistent with market norms,” he said.
Net profit in 2023 hit £85.8m, up from £79.6m in 2022.
Record underlying pre-tax earnings were £109.2m, compared with £100.9m the year before.
Case is rewarded not only as a chief executive but as one of the biggest fee-earning brokers in the game. Woyda also performs multiple roles.
Pay remains a controversial topic among shareholders, however.
Last May, investors rebelled in increased numbers at the London-listed company’s annual general meeting, with votes on the pay policy and the remuneration report garnering support among only 56%.
This was down from nearly 63% in 2022, but not as close as 2019, when Clarksons got over the line with only 51%.
The next vote comes in May.
The share price has risen from a low point of £3.20 in December 2008, following the credit crunch and collapse of freight rates, to £37.90 on 4 March, the day of the financial results statement.
