Celtic FC CEO puts bonus on hold

Tue 5th Oct 2010 | Money & Finance

Celtic Football Club chief executive Peter Lawwell has waived part of his bonus entitlement because of the club’s disappointing results on the park last season and the difficult economic situation as reported by the Herald Scotland.

According to Celtic’s newly published annual report Mr Lawwell gave up his right to £38,071 of a £190,359 bonus for the last financial year to June 30.

As well as waiving his entitlement to this part of his bonus completely, the annual report shows that Mr Lawwell, in another voluntary move, deferred payment of the remaining £152,288 to a “future, as yet unspecified date”.

Including this £152,288 bonus, which Mr Lawwell will receive at some stage, the chief executive enjoyed a rise in his total remuneration for the year to June 30 to £753,193 from £738,987 in the prior 12 months.

This is short of the £1 million-plus package he was rumoured to be in line for if he had taken the post of chief executive of Arsenal in 2008. .

A source close to Celtic emphasised that Mr Lawwell’s decision to give up part of his bonus and defer the remainder had been made voluntarily.

Sources revealed that Mr Lawwell felt that it would not be right to take his bonus entitlement after the club had a disappointing season and the current economic climate.

“He is very sensitive because he is a Celtic fan and ... has very good relationships with the supporters’ clubs and the supporters because he is one of them. He has real sensitivity to the fans’ views, opinions, and feelings. He just wanted to make sure he was doing the right thing. He has shown a degree of leadership there.”

Celtic’s accounts show that the remuneration of its chairman, John Reid, was unchanged at £50,000 in the year to June 30. The total remuneration of finance director Eric Riley slipped from £230,940 to £222,765.

Celtic slipped to a pre-tax loss of £2.13 million in the year to June 30 from a £2m profit before tax in the prior 12 months, as revenues slid from £72.6m to £61.7m. Profit from trading, before asset transactions and exceptional items, fell from £11.2m to £4.46m.

The annual report reiterates Mr Lawwell’s entitlement to an “additional loyalty award”, payable at the end of the current financial year to next June “if he remains employed by the company throughout the period”. He has been with Celtic since 2003, and has overseen a generally strong financial performance.

The report states the amount of the loyalty payment depends on performance under Celtic’s Long-Term Incentive Plan. It adds the aggregate of payments due under the LTIP and loyalty award “cannot exceed £650,000”. Mr Lawwell’s “total LTIP interest” stood at £300,000 at June 30.

(Source www.heraldscotland.com Ian McConnell)

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