Port of Tauranga CEO Mark Cairns. Photo/John Borren
Port of Tauranga CEO Mark Cairns. Photo/John Borren
Two Tauranga chief executives now earn more than $1 million a year after receiving big pay rises, according to latest information compiled from 2014 annual reports.
Port of Tauranga chief executive Mark Cairns and Trustpower chief executive Vince Hawksworth are among the top 24 earners on the list of the NZX 50 companies.
Mr Cairns earned a 51.24 per cent increase in pay in the 2014 financial year, taking his earnings to $1,464,000.
Of the 43 chief executives listed, Mr Cairns' pay was ranked 21st by order of pay.
ANZ Banking group chief executive David Hisco topped the list at $4.2 million.
Mr Hawksworth came in at number 24. He received a 34.65 per cent pay increase in the same period taking his earnings to $1,359,999.
Mr Hawksworth yesterday told the Bay of Plenty Times his remuneration package was set by Trustpower's board of directors.
Vince Hawksworth, CEO of Trustpower. Photo/File
"The role's very well paid but it's determined not by myself, it's determined by the board. It's based on how the role creates value for the shareholders and company and staff." Mr Hawksworth said the company had grown significantly during the five years he had been in the job.
In the past couple of years Trustpower had extended into the Australian market buying three hydro generators and two wind farms. About a third of the company's income now came from Australia.
Trustpower also now operated Snowtown wind farm in New Zealand, offered gas and was growing its telecommunications business.
"Having been in the job for five years there were targets that had to be met in the first three to four years which meant the figure went up more last year," Mr Hawksworth said.
"These things go in cycles depending on the company's performance.
"At the end of it all they are salaries that are big by any body's measurement and I certainly don't take that for granted. How long that continues to be the case, that depends on the company's performance. The tenure of chief executives tends not to be very long."
Mr Cairns could not be contacted for comment last night.
Chairman of the Port of Tauranga's board of directors David Pilkington said Mr Cairns' was paid on the basis of how well the port performed but his salary only ever increased by 2 or 3 per cent in a year. The rise in his earnings in the 2014 year was due to how his incentive package was structured.
Mark Cairns, CEO of The Port of Tauranga. Photo/File
"What we are seeing is a component of the long-term incentive, it accumulates and is paid at various targets," Mr Pilkington said.
"That would have been the accumulation of three years. There's various financial targets that are set. The port has got to reach those targets consistently, in this case over a three-year period before he would get the incentive."
Comparing the earnings of chief executives year-by-year was difficult because of such incentives, he said.
