Safeway defends boss's bonanza

SAFEWAY chairman David Webster defended the supermarket chain's decision to award a multimillion pound incentive plan to chief executive Carlos Criado-Perez. 'Carlos is very much the inspiration behind the resurgence of Safeway,' he told Tuesday's annual general meeting. 'The incentive plan is designed to retain and incentivise him.'

Criado-Perez, who was paid £848,000 last year, could earn another £4m over three years if he meets performance targets.

Webster also reassured investors that Safeway store refits are going well. Same-store sales rose 3% in the quarter to June and were on an improving trend. This is below last year's 5% growth, but reflects a slowdown in the whole sector.

'These figures should steady the nerves,' said Richard Ratner, at Seymour Pierce, who reckons the shares are 'very cheap'. Safeway fell 2p to 261p, and is down 30% on the year. Analysts fear it is losing share to Tesco, Sainsbury and Asda.

Store refurbishments are starting to bear fruit, but will take a long time to filter through to profits.