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Fonterra CEO asks for pay freeze

Author
NZME ,
Publish Date
Thu, 1 Oct 2015, 8:04AM
Fonterra CEO Theo Spierings (Getty Images)
Fonterra CEO Theo Spierings (Getty Images)

Fonterra CEO asks for pay freeze

Author
NZME ,
Publish Date
Thu, 1 Oct 2015, 8:04AM

Fonterra's chief executive has asked for a freeze on his $4 million salary while cost cutting is underway and jobs slashed.

A spokesman for Theo Spierings told Radio New Zealand that a meeting was held on September 21, days before the company's annual result was released.

Mr Spierings asked for his base salary of about $4 million to be frozen, the spokesman said.

Last week, Fonterra revealed it gave Mr Spierings a $750,000 pay rise to $4.9 million, including incentive payments, for last year, when farmers received a record payout of $8.50 a kilo of milk solids.

The freeze came on the same day Fonterra announced more jobs were being cut.

The spokesman told Radio New Zealand the freeze for the 2015/16 financial year does not include any bonuses Mr Spierings might be paid for the co-operative's performance.

He said Mr Spierings' pay, like all senior executive salaries, was based on independent, international benchmarking and was approved by the people, culture and safety committee.

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