BAe bosses get pounds 1.2m options bonanza

Sir Dick Evans, chief executive of British Aerospace, received share options worth pounds 381,000 last year under the company's new long-term performance share plan. Options worth a total of nearly pounds 1.2m at the current share price were awarded to BAe executives.

In addition to the 28,012 free share options granted to Sir Dick, he took part of his annual bonus in shares worth pounds 42,000 at last night's closing price of pounds 13.80. Both the shares and the options are held in trust for three years.

Although basic salaries were frozen at their 1995 level, three other executive directors were granted deferred share options under the new incentive scheme. BAe's finance director, Richard Lapthorne received 22,940 share options, worth pounds 312,000, while Mike Turner, who runs BAe's commercial aircraft division and John Weston, who runs the group's military division each received options worth pounds 242,000.

Under the performance share plan, all the options are exercisable if BAe's total shareholder return ranks in the top 25 of the FTSE 100.