Boots chief gets 15 percent pay hike even as trading profit slumps |
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Sat, 24 Jun 2006 15:35
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LONDON - Richard Baker, chief executive of Boots Group PLC, made £500,000 in bonuses last year thus taking his total pay for the year ending March 31 to £1.18 million. This pay rise of 15 percent came his way despite the fact that the group reported a 10 percent fall in trading profit.
Boots is on the verge of merging with Alliance UniChem later this year. It said that its 35,000 employees would share a £6.5 million windfall. This number is more than half the workforce in the chain. Also each employee who is eligible will receive shares equaling £250 as an incentive. A spokesman for Boots said Baker's earning was on par, "In the wider retail sector Richard Baker's package is in line with the average and behind many of our peers."
The 43-year-old Baker, who joined Boots from Asda in 2003, has been promoting the chain as "the health and beauty expert".
The Nottingham-based company has tried to emerge as the leading retailer in these segments despite fierce competition from the supermarkets. The group, which has 1,400 shops in all, decided to consolidate its position by acquiring he pharmacy wholesaler and retailer Alliance UniChem. This move was partly triggered off to negate the competition from supermarkets. The merger, which will be completed next month, will create a group with total sales of £13 billion. Boots will save an estimated £100 million over the deal.
Goldman Sachs is banker to Boots and Merrill Lynch and UBS are its brokers. Alliance UniChem's banker is Merrill Lynch and its brokers are Credit Suisse.
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Boots' performance under scanner 