West Brom boss paid £660,000 as society makes £18.5m loss
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West Bromwich Building Society chief executive Robert Sharpe received £660,000 in pay and bonuses for the 2009/10 financial year, despite the firm posting pre-tax losses of £18.5m.
Sharpe, who was formerly chief executive of Portman Building Society, joined West Brom in October 2008, as the society was in the midst of a debt crisis.
Between his appointment and the year-end in March 2009, he earned a total £228,000 in pay, bonuses and benefits.
The society posted pre-tax losses of £48.4m for the 2008/09 financial year.
Sharpe’s 2009/10 pay package included basic pay of £390,000, a £150,000 bonus, £98,000 of benefits in lieu of pension contributions and £22,000 in other benefits.
West Brom’s former chief executive Stephen Karle, who resigned from the society in October 2008, took home more than £600,000 in pay and benefits for the seven months of 2008 before his departure.
West Brom revealed in May that it had secured a deal to sell broker franchise Mortgageforce to the firm’s existing management for a nominal amount as part of its “back to basics” strategy to focus on its core operations of mortgage lending and savings.
The building society last year revealed it was considering embarking on a rebranding exercise to shake off its tarnished image.
Speaking as the society posted its annual results in May, Sharpe said: “The improvement on last year’s results clearly indicates that we are starting to see the benefits of the West Brom’s ’Back to Basics’ strategy with its renewed focus upon our traditional strengths as a regionally-based building society and concentrating on our core activities of savings and residential mortgages.
“This means that we have split the group between the traditional building society operations and those that are now in run-off, such as commercial lending, and we are applying the right management focus and skills to each.”
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Readers' comments (6)
Julian Stevens | 2 Jul 2010 3:17 pm
FSA boss paid £700,000 as quango makes £14m loss.
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Jerry | 2 Jul 2010 3:39 pm
My company made a loss last year, I m still waiting for my bonus!
How does this work!!?
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Geoff Smith | 2 Jul 2010 6:14 pm
Years ago, my old boss said Mutuals were run solely for the absolute benefit of those in charge and employees. "What about the members?" I asked naively. A hollow laugh followed by a raspberry was his only response.
How true--snouts, pigs and troughs come easily to mind. Sharpe and Karle are surely oinking all the way to the bank.
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Anonymous | 2 Jul 2010 7:31 pm
Well its quite simple the FSA answers to no one, produces nothing of any relevance or substance, targets the banks to build their gold plated pension schemes and sleeps while 5 banks go down on its watch.
After all that thay are still deluded enough people to believe they are worthy of a bonus the emperor isnt wearing any clothes nothing changes.
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John L | 3 Jul 2010 12:32 pm
What a farce!! No wonder this Country is in such a state.
Fat cats getting fatter whilst the rest of us go under.
Pull the ladder up Jack; I'm alright.
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Sean Kelly | 5 Jul 2010 7:55 am
You have to love the thinking - if there is a loss it is because of the general economy and therefore not my fault so I deserve a bonus, but if we make a profit in a booming economy it is down to my management skills so I deserve a bonus.
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