Food giant Kerry Group paid chief executive €3.9m last year

Iseq-listed company’s remuneration committee says it will hike salaries of general staff over the course of 2023

Food giant Kerry Group paid its chief executive, Edmond Scanlon, almost €3.9 million last year, the group’s annual report shows.

The Iseq-listed company increased the pay of its three executive directors last year. Mr Scanlon saw his basic pay rise by 3.2 per cent from €1,249,000 to €1,289,000.

Marguerite Larkin, the company’s chief financial officer, also saw her pay rise by 3.2 per cent, from €773,000 to €797,000.

Gerry Behan, chief executive of Kerry’s global taste and nutrition business, received a basic pay rise of 4 per cent from €1,019,000 to €1,060,000.

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After performance-related bonuses kicked in, Mr Scanlon’s full pay came to €3,899,000, up from €3,855,000 the year before. Ms Larkin brought home €2,225,000, up from €2,206,000, while Mr Behan earned €2,869,000, up from €2,534,000.

The report also outlined how the basic salaries of the executive directors would be increased by 3.2 per cent in Ireland and 4 per cent in the United States in 2023.

“These increases are below the 2023 average increases available for the wider workforce population in Ireland (3.5 per cent) and the US (4.5 per cent), with higher increases available for lower-paid employees or where market adjustments are required,” it said.

“Each executive director will be awarded their maximum long-term investment plan opportunity in 2023 as follows: CEO 300 per cent of basic salary; CFO 250 per cent of basic salary; and CEO taste and nutrition 250 per cent of basic salary.”

Elsewhere, the group’s chairman, Tom Moran, was paid a fee of €407,000, up from €395,000, while non-executive directors saw their fees rise from €86,000 to €89,000. An increase of 3.2 per cent will be applied to the base fee paid to the chairman and non-executive directors in 2023.

Kerry said that “greater flexibility” has been introduced in the group’s pay review process to facilitate higher increases for lower-paid positions and to give managers greater flexibility to differentiate where pay levels are materially impacted by inflation.

It added that more frequent salary increases have been and would be made in countries experiencing hyperinflation.

Colin Gleeson

Colin Gleeson

Colin Gleeson is an Irish Times reporter