Property manager leads the way on executive pay
GEO Property Group's managing director is leading the way on executive pay in difficult markets by agreeing to cut his salary by around 45 per cent from August this year.
The debate on executive salary levels has been raging in recent weeks, with groups such as US-based AIG coming under intense scrutiny for paying large executive bonuses at the same time as being handed a tax-payer funded rescue package.
In Australia, the Federal Government has moved to enable shareholders, including institutional investors, to block excessive executive golden handshakes, while the whole question of executive remuneration has recently been referred to the Productivity Commission.
Amid this debate, and in light of the challenging conditions facing many property groups, GEO managing director Guy Farrands has agreed to almost halve his salary later this year.
Furthermore, the non-executive directors of the group have agreed to waive 100 per cent of committee fees and reduce their base fees by 40 per cent — a total annualised reduction of 47.5 per cent.
The chairman of GEO Property Group wrote to shareholders yesterday to tell them the group doesn’t intend paying distributions for the quarters ending March 31, 2009, and June 30, 2009.
The board believes this action is in the “long-term best interests of security holders at this difficult time”. The group's share price has fallen significantly in recent months.
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