Capita chief's pay package tops £2m

THE boss of the company running London's congestion charge made £2.2m from his pay and share options package last year.

Remuneration details for Rod Aldridge, executive chairman of Capita, are revealed today in the company's 2004 accounts.

They show that Mr Aldridge received a £177,650 bonus on top of his £323,000 base salary. With benefits, that took his pay to £531,703 - up 5% on 2003.

However, he topped it up by cashing in 750,000 share options, earning him an extra £1.72m. He has also received just under £1m in dividends from his 17.8m shares in Capita.

The accounts show how other directors also took advantage of the company's strong share price to boost their pay. Chief executive Paul Pindar received salary, bonus and benefits worth £500,591, up 8%. But with profits from 450,000 share options, his total package was worth just over £1.5m. Group operations director Paddy Doyle was paid a total of £346,198, up 12%.

Capita, which prides itself on paying 'low' base salaries to its directors but awarding them large performancerelated bonuses and share options, would not comment.

The company's shares closed last night at 376p, almost double the £2 level they stood at when the congestion charge started in February 2003.