Derwent executives’ pay drops 43%

Derwent’s executive director pay fell more than 43% in 2016 as target-based bonuses took a hit from a struggling market performance in the second half of the year. Chief executive John Burns saw his pay package fall by 46.5%, from £2.5m to £1.3m, although his base salary rose 3% to £638,000. Simon Silver, executive director, had his pay cut from £2.2m to £1.2m in 2015. Derwent executive director pay (£000) Salary 2016 Salary 2015 Total pay 2016 Total pay 2015 Change John Burns Chief executive 638 619 1,353 2,529 -46.50% Simon Silver Director 547 531 1,169 2,168 -46.10% Damian Wisniewski Finance director 407 395 836 1,497 -44.20% Nigel George Director 407 395 842 1,499 -43.80% Paul Williams Director 407 395 840 1,500 -44.00% David Silverman Director 407 395 836 1,472 -43.20% The executive directors were paid a bonus of 34.9% of their salary – less than a quarter of the maximum 150% allowed – as a result of the company returning 1.7% in the year and missing its minimum total return target of 2.6%. Total property return was 2.9% – just above its 2.4% target. Although Derwent met most of its strategic targets, including ones for void management and staff satisfaction, the remuneration committee cut the maximum amount those targets counted toward executive bonuses from 25% to 15%. The committee said that although the company had an “extremely strong year” operationally, that was not reflected in its financial or share price performance and had cut maximum strategic performance bonuses as a result. Derwent’s share price fell about 28% between January and December 2016, with some recovery at the end of the year after a 34% drop in the days after the UK referendum in June. The company’s share price performance was part of a wider fall experienced by REITs with significant London exposure in the second half of last year. To send feedback, e-mail karl.tomusk@egi.co.uk or tweet @ktomusk or @estatesgazette