Smurfit Westrock chief executive Tony Smurfit saw his pay package fall 23 per cent to $16.4 million (€14.1 million) last year as the group’s share price and earnings dropped amid a downturn in the packaging industry.
The cardboard box-maker’s shares slid 28 per cent last year, hitting total shareholder returns which are an important part of performance-related remuneration. Adjusted earnings per share (eps), another key component, slipped at a similar pace.
Share awards to the CEO at $11.7 million were down on the $17.1 million awarded in 2024, the year in which the group was created through tie-up of Smurfit Kappa and Atlanta-based Westrock. His basic salary rose more than 10 per cent to $1.57 million.
Chief financial officer Ken Bowles and some other senior executives received retention bonuses last year stemming from the merger, which also saw the group move its main stock listing to New York. The $1.28 million bonus Bowles received cushioned the blow from lower stock awards, resulting in his total remuneration dipping 17 per cent to $7.17 million.
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The slump in the group’s share price last year particularly hit another remuneration metric, known as compensation actually paid (Cap), introduced a number of years ago by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
This calculation requires companies to disclose recent changes in the value of current and potential stock holdings – and has led to some very large remuneration figures being reported by US-listed companies.
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Smurfit’s Cap came to minus $726,562, as his package weathered a $11 million hit on the fair value of outstanding and unvested equity awards granted in prior years. By contrast, his Cap for 2024 had come to $27.9 million.
Smurfit Westrock’s share price has rallied almost 8 per cent so far this year, buoyed by the group’s new medium-term targets. These include for Ebitda to grow at a compound annual rate of about 7 per cent a year out to 2030, when it is forecast to reach $7 billion.
The targets are being driven by Smurfit’s focus on “unlocking the full potential of North America”. Analysts broadly view the legacy WestRock assets and business as weaker than those brought to the enlarged group from Smurfit Kappa.
