Home Retail boss Terry Duddy pockets £1.56m despite profits slide

The chief executive of Home Retail enjoyed a sharp rise in his total pay last year, despite the company behind the Argos and Homebase chains suffering a fall in profits.

Terry Duddy pocketed a package up by 41 per cent to £1.56 million for the year to March, including a salary of £838,000 and a cash bonus of £662,000.

His pay is likely to raise eyebrows in the City, as Home Retail’s profits slumped by 10 per cent to £91 million last year, marking the fifth consecutive year of declines. It was dragged down by a shrinking bottom line at Homebase, although Argos returned to profit growth.

Duddy’s bonus would have been higher but he voluntarily agreed to reduce his bonus by a third from 118 per cent of his base salary to just 79 per cent, as did the group’s finance director Richard Ashton. Furthermore, Duddy has invested all of his bonus in shares in Home Retail, which are deferred for three years. This would appear to demonstrate his long-term commitment to the company following speculation he could step down in 2014 or the year after.

While Home Retail’s annual profits fell, the outcome was at the mid-point of the group’s expectations and its cash position of £396 million was better than expected, with both measures resulting in the executive bonuses.