New rules reveal Unilever chief's pension pot is worth nearly £12m

Niall Fitzgerald, the chairman of Unilever, has amassed a pension pot of nearly £12m which, at its current level, would pay out £718,000 a year on retirement.

Mr FitzGerald, who has been with the Anglo-Dutch consumer products company for 30 years, saw the transfer value of his pension rise by £2.3m last year to £11.72m.

The figure is the largest to emerge since disclosure rules on executive pensions were changed this month. Under the new rules, companies have to disclose the full "transfer value" of directors' pension benefits in annual reports. Previously, companies only had to disclose the annual increase in transfer values.

The listing particulars for the demerged hotels arm of Six Continents, meanwhile, revealed the transfer value of the pension of its chairman, Sir Ian Prosser, had risen to £10.1m. The transfer value of the pension pot of Sir Philip Watts, the chairman of Royal Dutch/Shell, rose £1.48m to £7.9m, worth, at current levels, about £480,000 a year.

Unilever's annual report and accounts also revealed that Mr FitzGerald was paid £2.1m last year, including a £1m bonus and a £940,000-a-year salary. In 2001, he received £1.9m.

Last autumn, the company ended an 11-year contribution holiday as the surplus in its pension scheme shrank. The move will see existing employee members of the scheme contribute 2 per cent of their salary this year. A staff and employer contribution holiday had been in place since 1991, excluding payments made in 1995-1996. At its peak, the Unilever surplus was about £2bn.

Separately, it emerged yesterday that James Nicol, the chief executive of the engineering group Tomkins, was paid £1.5m in the eight months to 31 December. The payout comprised a £500,000 bonus, £467,000 of "benefits in kind" as well as £500,000 of salary. David Newlands, who was made executive chairman after Greg Hutchings was ousted, saw his pay cut from £312,000 to £105,000. Mr Hutchings was forced out after revelations of boardroom excess at the engineering group.