Lloyds Bank Chief Executive defends £1.7m bonus
14/02/2014
Lloyds Bank chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio has defended his £1.7 million bonus, claiming that it is aligned with taxpayers’ interests.
The bank has increased its overall staff bonuses for 2013 to £395 million, up from £365 million the previous year. Mr Horta-Osario claimed the reason behind this, was due to increased performance, which seen the bank report it’s first pre-tax profit since the £20.5 billion government bail out, which was funded with tax-payers money.
The bank posted a pre-tax profit of £415 million, in comparison to the £606 million loss made in 2012.
Horta-Osario was quoted as saying: "I strongly believe you should link compensation with performance, and having increased our underlying profits by 140%, we thought it was appropriate to increase the bonus pool of the bank by 8%.”
He also pointed to the fact that 78% of the bonus scheme is in the form of shares, whilst 100% of Horta-Ontario’s bonus being paid in shares which cannot be cashed-in until 2019.
"I have also agreed to have additional conditions to my bonus... which is fully paid in shares, which aligns my interests with the interests of the taxpayer, so if the strategy we are pursuing proves itself wrong, that money can be clawed back."
However, the ‘Unite Union’ national officer Rob Macgregor disapproved of the bonus, especially after the bank gave its call centre workers a 2% pay rise and cut more than 35,000 jobs since the bail out.
He said: "The chief executive's £1.7m bonus, on top of shares worth millions awarded at the end of October, is a kick in the teeth to the taxpayer, and to hard-working staff who don't know if they will be next in line for the chop."
Need advice?
If you need to ask a financial questions then please contact our financial advisers online or over the phone to get help with your query.
Share this..
Related stories
UK government seizes £4 billion of Icelandic assets in UK
In a move which has been welcomed in the UK but may well backfire in the overseas political scene it has been confirmed that the UK government has seized £4 billion of Icelandic assets held in the UK. The £4 billion figure is in excess of the £3 billion which is said to be owed to UK investors by Iceland's financial system. So what next?
While initially the Icelandic government...
Cases of identity theft up 20% in 2009
In an alarming development it has been revealed that identity theft in the UK increased by 20% in 2009 compared to figures from 2008. While this in itself is worrying, the very fact that 72% of identity theft cases occurred in the second half of 2009 would indicate that 2010 is set to see significant growth in this area of fraudulent activity. As well as an increase in general ID theft numbers...
Read MoreWhat does this mean for Bradford and Bingley savers?
As with the demise of any bank operation there is always some concern from account holders as to the security of their money. However, the Treasury has stepped forward at a very early stage to confirm that no account savers will lose out and their funds will be transferred to a much stronger parent company in due course. So what do that mean in practice?
While the small print has...
Do we depend on computers far too much?
This weekend's revelation that a number of major stores in the UK saw their electronic payment systems down for anywhere up to 3/4 of an hour is a major blow for those who have been pushing the electronic payment model of the future. It also shows that many of us in the UK depend wholly upon credit cards and debit cards to cover our everyday costs and if the systems are in any way compromised we a...
Read MoreCould more UK banks fall?
After the double whammy of the demise of the US led bailout and the failure of the Bradford and Bingley there are some very nervous banking execs in the UK and around the world. While the Bradford and Bingley was by no means one of the leading UK banks, nobody would have even joked about a collapse prior to the credit crunch. However, here we have it, HBOS saved by a rescue bid from Lloyds Bank...
Read More