Anger: Around 10% of Centrica shareholders opposed £8.2m pay package handed to chief executive Chris O’Shea
Investors have slapped British Gas owner Centrica on the wrist for an £8.2m payday for its boss.
Around 10 per cent of shareholders yesterday opposed the package handed to chief executive Chris O’Shea in 2023, an increase of almost £4m on the previous year.
Most of the pay rise came from a bonus linked to O’Shea’s share price. Shares of the energy giant rose as household gas and electricity bills soared.
O’Shea admitted last month that there was “inequality in society” and that he was “lucky” to earn millions of pounds a year.
He told MPs on the energy and net zero emissions committee: “I understand people are struggling.”
O’Shea previously said his £4.5m pay package for 2022 was a “huge amount” that was “unjustifiable”.
He is the latest boss of a British company to get a huge pay rise amid debate over whether FTSE 100 chief executives are underpaid compared to their American peers.
The packages for the leaders of Smith and Nephew, Ocado, London Stock Exchange Group and AstraZeneca have irritated investors.