Bosses at energy giant SSE miss out on annual bonus after collapse of merger

Bosses at energy giant SSE have missed out on an annual bonus this year after the collapse of its merger with npower in 2018.
Bosses at SSE have missed out on an annual bonus.Bosses at SSE have missed out on an annual bonus.
Bosses at SSE have missed out on an annual bonus.

The company’s entire board, including chief executive officer Alistair Phillips-Davies, missed out on the bonus in the aftermath of the failed deal.

Britain’s third biggest energy supplier is now set to float on the stock market, despite its energy service business reporting a 68 per cent drop in underlying earnings to £89.6m for the year to March 31.

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During the year, SSE lost around 570,000 domestic gas and electricity customer accounts, falling to 5.78 million.

The Big Six supplier had sought a tie-up with npower to stabilise its position but called off the deal, blaming “challenging market conditions” and the Government’s price cap.

A number of directors at the firm have seen their annual pay packets slide, according to SSE’s annual report for the year – however, board members still received a long-term bonus of up to £390,000.

Mr Phillips-Davies, who led the firm through the collapsed deal, saw his basic salary increase by three per cent to £890,000 for the year. However, his total pay packet sank dramatically by 39 per cent to £1.65m, from £2.7m the previous year, after missing out on the annual bonus. In the previous year, Mr Philips Davies was handed a £1m bonus.

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SSE’s other directors also saw a slump in pay, with finance director Gregor Alexander’s total pay packet sliding 36 per cent to £1.3m for the year. The annual report also revealed that SSE had a median gender pay gap of 21 per cent in April 2019, while it increased its proportion of female staff to 31.4 per cent.