Murphy is flying high with £3.7m

KINGFISHER chief executive Gerry Murphy must be thankful that he left Carlton when he did. He has already racked up cash and share awards worth £3.7m since joining the do-it-yourself retailer in February 2003.

Kingfisher paid Murphy £1.6m last year, including £812,500 base salary and a £639,000 cash bonus. He also got 221,448 shares (worth £632,000) as a bonus which he can cash in in three years.

If he'd stayed at Carlton, Murphy would have probably lost his job when it merged to become ITV.

Kingfisher, which owns B&Q in the UK and Castorama in France, also gave Murphy 1.3m share options, the annual report reveals. He has made a £641,000 paper gain on these so far.

Yesterday, the retailer awarded him 285,960 shares worth £816,000, which will vest in three years if performance targets are met. Kingfisher said 'it was a good year', pointing out underlying earnings rose 15%.