Scardino picks up £273,000 bonus

Marjorie Scardino, chief executive of Pearson, the publisher, picked up a £273,000 bonus for 2002, having voluntarily foregone a payout the previous year.

The bonus came on top of an unchanged basis salary of £525,000, which, together with other benefits worth £54,000, put Ms Scardino's total remuneration at £852,000 for last year. In 2001, she waived a bonus due to her of £157,000, leaving her total pay for the year at £583,000.

A spokesman for Pearson said the bonus for Ms Scardino, 55, was based on a "very strong" set of results for 2002, with earnings per share up more than 40 per cent. It also reflected group sales growth, an improvement in the working capital requirement and cash conversion, he said.

The bonus was unrelated to the Pearson share price, which continued to fall in 2002. The company spokesman said the shares had performed no worse than the FTSE 100, which was down some 25 per cent, and the stock did better than the media sector as a whole.

The company's annual report, published yesterday, also showed that Ms Scardino had been awarded 362,000 shares last year, which she will receive in five tranches between 2005 and 2009 – the last four of these depend on Pearson shares hitting prescribed targets.

All five executive directors were awarded bonuses for 2002, including £279,000 for John Makinnson, head of the Penguin books division.