Sainsbury's boss takes a £5m hit in pay packet

Sainsbury's chief executive, Justin King, took a hit to his wallet last year with his pay packet almost £5m lower as he cashed in fewer options and the high street stalwart failed to hit some performance targets.

Mr King received total remuneration of £3.2m for the financial year to the end of March, the company said in its annual report, published yesterday.

This marks a dramatic fall from the £8m he took home a year earlier, despite a strong performance from the supermarket chain.

A spokesman for the company said the drop was caused as the group did not exceed certain performance targets by a high enough margin, and Mr King had also exercised fewer share options.

The report revealed that Mr King's basic pay was £900,000, although it would be increased to £920,000 this financial year. He was also awarded a bonus of £520,000 and a deferred share award of £934,000, which, with additional benefits, took his total pay packet to £2.6m. He also cashed in almost £600,000 worth of options.

Darren Shapland, who shocked the market by quitting as Sainsbury's group development director in May, received a total of £1.2m in 2011, down from £1.4m a year earlier. This came just a year after he had joined the board in the specially created role.