IP chief quits to triple salary in US

The electricity producer International Power lost its chief executive yesterday only six weeks after reporting a sharp drop in profits.

However, the company, which was demerged from National Power three years ago, said the departure of David Crane to a similar post at US utilities group NRG was prompted by an offer he could not refuse rather than by its own problems.

An International Power spokeswoman said: "NRG is a bigger company and he has received a very compelling offer. He will receive an American-style package." His pay will triple from his current salary to about £1.5m when he moves at the end of next month.

Although Mr Crane is American he was tempted by NRG's international operations rather than the chance of returning home. Mr Crane has been at IP for three and a half years and played a key role in the demerger alongside chief financial officer Philip Cox.

IP is now looking for a replacement inside and outside its ranks. This could involve a shake-up of the executive team. IP has operations in the UK, Australia, the US, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. It can generate nearly 11,000 megawatts of power and has another 610 megawatts under construction.

Last week IP decided to restore its Deeside plant to full capacity until at least the end of March despite an assertion by Mr Crane that: "We do not believe the UK faces a shortage of supply this winter."

He said that although wholesale electricity prices in England and Wales have recently shown some improvement they remain well below a level that provides an adequate return to power generators.

Deeside mothballed a 250WM unit, half its generating capacity there, in April last year and restored it on Monday. IP also owns the 1,000MW power station at Rugeley.

First-half results released at the beginning of September showed pre-tax profits down from £141m to £98m and earnings per share of 5.8p in "tough market conditions", particularly in the UK and US. The shares edged up 0.25p to 138.5p yesterday.