Misys cuts back executives' pay

BANKING and securities software firm Misys has taken the axe to executives' pay packages after a year of poor sales and declining margins.

Executive chairman Kevin Lomax was hardest hit with a £280,000 fall in his total pay, down 38% from £715,848 to £435,523 for the year to the end of May after failing to collect any annual bonus.

There was also no bonus for finance director Huw Evans and corporate development director Jasper McMahon, as group-wide performance conditions were not met, according to Misys's latest annual report.

Despite the lacklustre group performance, four directors still managed to collect some bonuses, although far less than in 2003.

Leading the pack were two directors who have now retired from the firm. John Sussens picked up a £158,500 award as managing director of all Misys's operating divisions, while fellow director Robert Graham collected £100,000.

Only Ian Martin saw an improvement to his overall pay, up nearly £20,000 to £424,015. He heads Misys's US-based healthcare division which has been the only strong performer for the past few years.

Misys's top five executives also kissed goodbye to more than 1m shares as options under various incentive schemes lapsed after a year which Lomax described as unsatisfactory when delivering results last month.

Although Lomax has seen more than 300,000 share options lapse, he is still sitting on a further 1.8m options, including a batch of 104,100 awarded this year.