Tuesday, 22 November 2011 08:42

Directors in for a pay rise

Written by 

FONTERRA CHAIRMAN Henry van der Heyden is to get a 27% pay rise.

The co-op shareholders passed a resolution, at last week's annual meeting, boosting his salary from the current $315,000 to $400,000.

Shareholders also agreed to increase Fonterra director fees by 14% to $160,000. They will also receive allowance for board committee membership.

Fonterra director remuneration committee chairman Rodney Wilson says market expectations and trends for director fees – both here and overseas – were taken into account when setting the new fees.

"The committee believes it is important to set realistic fee levels, having particular regard to the broader market to ensure skilled directors are attracted and retained on the board," he told the meeting.

Wilson says the committee also looked at market trends and believes Fonterra director fees are "modest" in comparison to other New Zealand companies.

The committee also increased the fees of Fonterra Shareholders Council chairman Simon Couper by 12.5% to $90,000. The council's deputy chair will now get $55,000 – an increase of 25%, while councillors' fees remain unchanged at $25,000.

Fonterra shareholders also approved a new budget for the council. Independent director John Waller was re-elected for another term.

More like this

Fonterra R&D: Innovation needs more than just PhDs

Common sense and good human judgement are still a key requirement for the super highly qualified staff working at one of New Zealand's largest and most important research facilities - Fonterra's R&D Centre at Palmerston North.

Misguided campaign

OPINION: Last week, Greenpeace lit up Fonterra's Auckland headquarters with 'messages from the common people' - that the sector is polluting the environment.

Featured

National

Machinery & Products

Farming smarter with technology

The National Fieldays is an annual fixture in the farming calendar: it draws in thousands of farmers, contractors, and industry…

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

110,000 visitors!

OPINION: It's official, Fieldays 2025 clocked 110,000 visitors over the four days.

Sticky situation

OPINION: The Federated Farmers rural advocacy hub at Fieldays has been touted as a great success.

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter