THE former chief executive of Waterford Wedgwood in Britain, Mr Kneale Ashwell, received £343,000 in compensation for loss of office last year, the Waterford Wedgwood annual report reveals. Mr Ashwell resigned from the board in May 1995 to join the European subsidiary of a Japanese marketing company.

Mr Ashwells's £343,000 compensation is in addition to a special "phantom stock option" payment of £365,000 he received as part of the package he negotiated when he joined Waterford Wedgwood in July 1991. It matured in July 1994.

That option payment was the focus of strong criticism at the Waterford Wedgwood annual general meeting in 1995, but was defended by chairman Dr Tony O'Reilly, who told that a.g.m. that it was negotiated with Mr Ashwell "at a time when the group's financial condition was very precarious and, as a result, our capacity to attract talent was limited".

Mr Ashwell left Waterford Wedgwood less than a year after he received the phantom stock options payment.

Mr Ashwell's phantom stock options of £365,000 are included under "other remuneration" in the 1994 figures. When this is excluded, "other remuneration" in 1994 totalled £773,000 - an average of £110,400 - for the seven directors, compared with £980,000 - an average of £153,100 - last year.

When both Mr Ashwell's stock options and his compensation are excluded from the figures, total payments to directors - salaries, benefits in kind, bonuses, pension contributions - increased from £1.42 million to £1.52 million - an average of £218,000 for each of the directors.

Since the end of 1995, the number of executive directors has fallen to five - reflecting Mr Ashwell's departure and the retirement of Dr Paddy Galvin.

The annual report shows that, under a long term incentive plan, £1.3 million may be paid to executive directors next year if specific targets are met.

Waterford Wedgwood will hold its annual general meeting in London on May 17th.