Eagle Bulk Shipping chief executive Gary Vogel has been rewarded for record profits with a pay hike.
The US-listed ultramax and supramax bulker specialist said a new employment agreement has been signed, under which Vogel's base salary will hit $695,000 per year, from $675,000.
The previous contract dates from July 2015.
The salary will be reviewed for a possible increase at an unspecified point in the future.
Vogel will also receive annual share incentives with a target value of 175% of the base wage payment.
TradeWinds has reported that executive pay dropped substantially at Connecticut-based Eagle Bulk in 2020 as it dealt with the fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Vogel's headline compensation total of $1.68m was 35% lower than the $2.59m he took in for 2019.
Stock-based compensation accounted for most of the difference. He received share grants valued at $207,000, but this was well off the $1.04m valuation calculated for his 2019 awards.
Vogel's cash bonus of $761,112 was down from $843,750 in the previous year.
Chief financial officer Frank De Costanzo's overall compensation in 2020 dropped to $677,761 from $958,672, mostly on a $241,000 cut in the value of his stock compensation. Base pay held even at $425,000.
Two years of pay pain
It was the second consecutive year in which the Eagle Bulk team took a cut in the overall value of compensation for top executives. Vogel earned a headline figure of $3.5m in 2018, helped by restricted shares worth $1.9m.
But booming bulker rates as economies opened up again have positioned the executives for a potentially lucrative year in 2021.
Eagle Bulk achieved its best ever result in the second quarter, with adjusted net income of $40.3m or $3.31 per share, reflecting the biggest Ebitda in its history.
