黑洞社区

Ian Tyler, chief executive of Balfour Beatty, has come top of 黑洞社区鈥檚 value for money chief executive table for the second year running.

The table shows the pre-tax profit, including exceptional items, of contractors that have released their yearly accounts to 31 December 2010, divided by the annual pay of the chief executive or highest paid director.

Tyler, who won chief executive of the year at last month鈥檚 黑洞社区 Awards, saw his pay near 拢1m but steered Balfour to 拢187m in pre-tax profits.

One analyst, who did not want to be named, said that while large, Tyler鈥檚 pay packet was not excessive compared with other sectors and executive pay had still increased across the construction sector this year.

It鈥檚 not comparable to the luxurious pay seen in the banking sector

Anonymous analyst

鈥淔or a FTSE 100 company, Tyler doesn鈥檛 get paid aggressively. It鈥檚 not comparable to the luxurious pay seen in the banking sector,鈥� he said.

鈥淏onuses have returned in the context of a recovery. But they have been affected not just by profitability but by other, more qualitative things, like resolving rights issues. It鈥檚 debatable whether they should get one for something like that,鈥� he said.

Greg Fitzgerald, chief executive of Galliford Try, finished bottom of the list largely due to the firm鈥檚 relatively low profit figures of 拢19.2m for 2010.

Robin Hardy, an analyst at Peel Hunt, said this could well change next year as Galliford Try鈥檚 profitability is expected to increase after it completes its transition from majority contractor to majority housebuilder.

鈥淚f you look at profitability, it鈥檚 set to increase by about 100% between June 2010 to June 2011,鈥� he said.

Hardy explained that many of the bonus structures set during the recession had been made during heavy losses and so were not based on profitability.

鈥淲hen you have been coming out of a fallow period, the criteria are peculiar and not linked to pre-tax profit. Instead they are often linked to avoiding various pitfalls,鈥� he said.

There was some evidence that pay has been cut as profits have shrunk. Adrian Ringrose, chief executive of Interserve, got 拢576,944 in 2010, when pre-tax profits stood at 拢64.1m, but had been awarded 拢854,282 in 2009 when the company made 拢89.2m.

Justin Atkinson of Keller also saw his pay cut from 拢807,000 in 2009 to 拢550,000 in 2010 as pre-tax profit dived from 拢74.7m to 拢17.8m.