Reckitt Benckiser cuts boss’s pay for second time

Rakesh Kapoor, boss of Reckitt Benckiser, was due to be paid £23.7m

Reckitt Benckiser, the maker of Durex condoms and Gaviscon, has cut its chief executive's pay package for the second time in two years.

Rakesh Kapoor received total compensation of £12.5m in 2017, down from £15.3m in 2016, after the firm underperformed.

Without the reduction for 2017, he would have received £23.7m.

Reckitt Benckiser has previously been accused of having excessive pay levels.

According to Reckitt, Mr Kapoor volunteered to take the cut "based on the [remuneration] committee's evaluation of performance in the round and alignment of pay outcomes with the shareholder experience."

"We recognised that 2017 was a challenging year," said Mary Harris, chair of the remuneration committee.

It follows a slowdown at the consumer goods company, whose shares have fallen more than 25% this year. Sales were flat in 2017 due to pricing pressures and one-off events, including a major cyber attack.

Complaints

Mr Kapoor's 2016 package was itself slashed by 39% after a safety scandal that engulfed its South Korean division.

And even the year before, 2015, there had been complaints about his £25.5m salary, which made him Britain's third-highest paid boss.

According to the High Pay Centre think tank, the average chief executive pay at a FTSE 100 company was £4.5m in 2016. Figures for 2017 have not yet been released.

With a market value of £59bn, Reckitt Benckiser is the 15th biggest company in the FTSE 100 index.