Currys has awarded its outgoing chief executive, Alex Baldock, a total pay package of £6.3m for this year. This represents a 54 per cent increase from his £4.1m package last year, ahead of his departure at the end of August.
Baldock's base salary saw a one per cent rise to just over £1m, but the majority of his pay increase came from performance incentive payments, which more than tripled to £5.2m. The firm's remuneration committee stated that Baldock will not be able to claim remaining performance-based share awards after he steps down, but can hold shares worth up to 250 per cent of his final salary for two years post-departure.
On Wednesday, Baldock sold over 1.7m of his shares in Currys for nearly £2.9m, at an average price of 165p. Currys' remuneration committee allowed executive directors, including Baldock, to claim up to 175 per cent of their salary in bonuses, based on performance targets related to earnings and electrical waste.
Baldock, who joined Currys in 2018, is credited with a successful turnaround of the business, focusing on store estate reduction, boosting online sales, and emphasising repairs and subscriptions. He will join high street chemist Boots as its CEO, as the company considers a potential London IPO.
Earlier this month, Currys reported an 18 per cent increase in pre-tax profit to £153m and initiated a £50m share buyback scheme. Frederik Tonnesen, the current head of Currys' Nordic operations, has been announced as Baldock's successor. Currys shares rose by 0.7 per cent to 168p on Thursday morning.