Wednesday 27 November 2019 9:06 am

Lloyds Banking Group boss to take pay cut after pension backlash

Lloyds Banking Group is planning on cutting the pay of its boss by more than £220,000 following criticism of his pension package.

Antonio Horta-Osorio was blasted by MPs in June for “greed” in relation to his £6.3m pay packet which included a pension contribution worth 46 per cent of his base salary – reduced to 33 per cent after an outcry – compared with a maximum 13 per cent for other employees.

The bank has told shareholders it plans to give staff an annual pensions contribution worth up to 15 per cent of base salary from next year, the Financial Times reported.

For Horta-Osorio, this would mean a cut of about £228,000 based on his 2019 salary.

The bank is reportedly not planning to offset the reduction in Horta-Osorio’s salary with other pay perks.

In June, Lloyds’ remuneration committee chairman Stuart Sinclair told MPs the bank’s boss deserved his salary and there was not widespread discontent among staff.

He said: “They see Antonio as a winner because he brought the bank back from the brink, people see that as a big achievement.”

Horta-Osorio also hit back against MPs who accused him of greed.

“It is very difficult to accept the word ‘greed’ when my total fixed compensation is lower than the group chief executive of HSBC,” he said.

“My total fixed compensation at £2.8m is absolutely in line with other major bank’s chief executives, but that doesn’t mean we are not mindful of decreasing the pay gap,” he added.

A Lloyds Banking Group spokesperson said: “In line with the regular three-year review of the group’s remuneration policy, we are consulting shareholders on all elements of the policy including pension allowances.

“As stated before, the group will continue to support the guidelines set out by the Investment Association and, once approved by the board, the proposed new remuneration policy will be presented to shareholders for approval at the 2020 AGM’.