Flutter executives Peter Jackson and Jonathan Hill lost out on more than £5 million (€5.6m) in bonuses between them as the Irish betting giant missed targets last year, its annual report says.
The report, published on Thursday, shows that the group paid Mr Jackson, its chief executive, £4 million last year against £7.26 million in 2021. His colleague, Mr Hill, chief financial officer, received £2.38 million in 2022, from £4.2 million the previous year.
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Flutter paid both men lower bonuses in 2022 as the Dublin-headquartered group undershot targets that determine how much they receive in performance-related pay.
The group more than halved Mr Jackson’s annual cash bonus to £1.1 million from £2.6 million in 2021, while it cut his long-term incentive payments, designed to anchor executives in a particular job, to £1.66 million from £3.6 million.
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Mr Hill’s annual bonus slipped to £633,000 in 2022 from £1.6 million the previous year, while his long-term payment fell to £941,000 from £1.9 million.
Flutter ties executives’ bonuses to how the business performs against agreed targets. They include earnings generated by operations outside the US, where it is still developing its business, safer gambling initiatives, and the revenues generated by FanDuel, its main US subsidiary.
While Flutter beat its FanDuel and safer gambling targets, non-US earnings came up short so neither executive received any bonus under this heading, contributing to the sharp reduction in their performance-related pay.
The annual report’s figures show that Flutter’s target for non-US earnings before interest and tax was £1.146 billion, while it actually achieved £1 billion. Had it hit the target the top executives’ 2022 pay would have been similar to the level received in 2021.
According to the report, despite positive growth the UK, Ireland and Sportsbet in Australia were challenging “resulting in an overall group bonus outcome below threshold performance”.
Flutter boosted both executives’ basic pay to ensure the group kept pace with potential rivals for both men’s services. Mr Jackson received a 26 per cent increase on March 1st last year to a total basic of £1.17 million and Mr Hill’s equivalent rose 20 per cent to £715,000. Both men were paid at that higher rate for the final 10 months of the year.
For the full financial year Mr Jackson’s basic came to £1.13 million from £923,000 in 2021. He received a £169,000 pension payment and £7,000 in other benefits for a total basic package of €1.3 million.
Mr Hill’s basic rose to £693,000 from £594,000. His pension was £104,000 and he received £14,000 in other benefits for a total before bonuses of €810,000.
Flutter will ask shareholders to vote on a new long-term incentive plan at its annual general meeting. Mr Hill will become chief operating officer, a new role, on March 20th. He steps down from the board after the 2023 annual meeting of shareholders. Paul Edgecliffe-Johnson will be appointed chief financial officer.
