Sainsbury’s chief executive Justin King took a £5m hit to his pay packet last year as the supermarket failed to hit some performance targets and he cashed in fewer options.

King received £3.2m from the grocer for the financial year to the end of March, according to Sainsbury’s annual report, which was published yesterday, down from the £8m he took home a year earlier.

A spokesman said that the drop was down to the group not exceeding performance targets by high enough margins along with King exercising fewer share options over the year.

The Sainsbury’s chief executive’s basic pay was £900,000 last year, which will increase to £920,000 in the current financial year. With bonus and share awards his total pay packet stood at £2.6m. He also cashed in almost £600,000 worth of options.

Darren Shapland, who resigned from his role of group development director at the grocer in May, received £1.2m over the year, down from £1.4m the previous year.

Topics