Senior executives at Morrisons receive bonuses worth £2.3m

Morrisons has given bonuses worth £2.3m to its two most senior executives for their successful turnaround of the Bradford-based supermarket.

Chief executive David Potts and chief financial officer Trevor Strain received the awards under the long term incentive plan put in place weeks after Potts joined in March 2015.

At the time Morrisons was in crisis, with its share price having halved in an 18-month period as its in-store performance deteriorated.

The appointment of Andy Higginson as chairman, quickly followed by Potts replacing outgoing chief executive Dalton Philips, revitalised Morrisons. Their immediate impact has been sustained, with its trading performance and improvements to its balance sheet transforming the business.

Potts has now received 660,120 shares, valued at £1.55m, while Strain has received the cash equivalent of 326,176 shares, £764,000.

These awards are after tax and national insurance settlements.

Potts earned £2.97 in 2016/17, although he has twice waived annual increases to his £850,000 basic salary. Strain earned £2.68m for the same period, which included a base salary of £575,000 and a payout from a long term incentive plan of £783,000.

In March, the supermarket announced its third consecutive year of growth after seeing revenue and profits rise.For the 53 weeks to February 2018, the group reported a 2.8% rise in like-for-like sales excluding fuel and VAT, while revenue rose 5.8% to £17.3bn, up from £16.3bn in the prior year period.

Underlying pre-tax profit came in at £374m, up 11%, while the retailer said reported pre-tax profits stood at £380m, up 16.9% from £325m the year before.

Net debt reduced by £221m to £973m, below its £1bn year-end target. The retailer said it is on track for £700m of annualised wholesale supply sales by the end of 2018.

However, in Morrisons announced it was to cut 1,500 jobs as part of a restructuring drive. It said the shake-up would see more customer service staff and fewer managers. Under the proposals, roles such as warehouse manager will be removed and Morrisons would simultaneously create 1,700 junior jobs. The net increase in posts is expected to be around 200.