Perpetual slashes executive pay - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
Perpetual will slash executive pay after profit slump. Someone setting a good example. From the ABC
Perpetual slashes executive pay
Fund manager Perpetual has slashed its executives' pay as it prepares shareholders for a slump in profits.
From July this year, the almost $500,000 pay cheque for Perpetual's chairman will be cut by 42 per cent, while the average pay for non-executive directors will be cut by 25 per cent.
Vas Kolesnikoff from the Shareholders' Association says it is an unprecedented move, made under pressure from disgruntled investors.
"Perpetual has been shrinking, Perpetual's stock price was $83. It's now in the low twenties. Its earnings have gone from the hundreds of millions down to $20 million," he said.
The pay cuts are part of the company's restructure, which also involves cutting about 300 jobs.
The fund manager has warned shareholders its full-year net profit will slump to as low as $22 million, which is less than a third of last year's $62 million profit.
The Shareholders' Association hopes more companies will follow the example set by Perpetual and slash the pay of its executives.
Mr Kolesnikoff says there are many more companies that need to slash executive pay.
"Companies such as Fairfax, where shareholder wealth has fallen by 90 per cent and executive and board remuneration has increased, need to be looking at themselves," he said.
"And other companies, including Qantas, etcetera - where the directors and the executives are firing employees but somehow they seem to be unaccountable and they seem to be untouched."