The total pay package of Mark Clare, Barratt’s chief executive, shot up by more than two-thirds this year, despite the firm making a £163m loss.

Clare took home £1.42m in pay and bonuses for 2010, compared with £847,000 in 2009. The sharp rise is principally owing to a £568,000 bonus, the first he has received since 2007.

His basic salary grew by 2% from £630,000 to £642,000. The bonus is despite the fact the firm’s share price is just a quarter of its value when he joined the organisation in October 2006, a fall greater than that of all the other listed housebuilders, and far worse than the flat performance of the FTSE250 in the period.

It comes in a year when the firm reported a loss of £163m, down from the £679m loss in 2009, on revenues down 10% at £2bn.

A spokesperson for Barratt said: “The company significantly outperformed expectations in terms of cash generation, debt reduction and operating profit. During the same period, customer satisfaction standards reached record levels. The bonuses paid reflect extremely demanding performance criteria in a number of these areas.”

The figure is less than the £2.41m package received by housebuilding’s highest paid director, Berkeley’s Tony Pidgley, but higher than that received by Persimmon chief executive
Mike Farley in 2009.

Topics