Kingspan's chief executive Gene Murtagh saw his total pay package jump 30 per cent to almost €2 million last year as a pick-up in earnings growth delivered an increase in his cash bonus and a resumption of stock awards.
Mr Murtagh (47), son of the group's founder and chairman Eugene Murtagh, received a 7.5 per cent increase in his base salary last year to €828,000.
The cash element of his bonus rose 38 per cent to the same amount, and deferred share awards amounted to €158,000, according to the group’s latest annual report.
No executive received share awards in 2017 as earnings growth slowed. The chief executive also received pension contributions and other benefits last year to bring his total remuneration to €1.998 million.
Chief financial officer Geoff Doherty’s compensation grew by 23 per cent to €1.54 million.
Earnings per share, a key determinant of performance-related pay at Kingspan, rose by 16 per cent in 2018 to €1.84 to outstrip the previous year's 10.6 per cent growth.
Kingspan unveiled its full-year results on February 22nd, which showed that sales surged by 19 per cent on 2017 to a record €4.4 billion, driven by acquisitions, while trading profit rose by a marginally slower pace to €456.2 million.
However, Mr Murtagh noted at the time that orders for its insulation panels had fallen by a “high-single-digit” percentage in the UK since the start of the year as Brexit concerns take their toll on construction.
Last June, Mr Murtagh netted more than €3.4 million by selling shares in Kingspan, after exercising options granted to him under a 2013 executive bonus plan.
During 2018, Kingspan spent €470 million on eight deals, including: Synthesia, the leading insulated panel and board businesses in Iberia, a strong player in the insulated panel business in central and eastern Europe called Balex Metal, and a partnership with the market leader in the insulated panel market in India, Jindal Mectec.
Kingspan has proposed a 13.5 per cent increase to its full-year dividend, to 42 cent per share.
Net debt rose to €728.3 million at the end of December from €463.9 million a year earlier, though its debt level dipped marginally to 1.4 times earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) as a result of the company’s earnings growth.
