Land Securities has rewarded its management with bumper pay packets – in spite of the company falling deep into the red with its full-year results – as it outperformed the broader commercial property slump.

In what could be the last pay day before a proposed demerger, Francis Salway, chief executive, took home £1.97m–a 55% increase over the previous year. The package included a £1.3m bonus. There is an additional long-term incentive package of £916,000.

The next highest paid executive was managing director Mike Hussey, the future boss of the demerged London business, who saw his salary double to £1.6m. This includes a 200 per cent additional bonus of almost £1.2m. He received £803,000 last year.

Land Securities reported a pre-tax loss of £888.8m in the 12-month period to March 31, compared with a profit of almost £2bn the previous year, but this reflects the fall in value of its underlying properties during the market downturn. However, the 10.3% fall in net asset value represented an out-performance on the broader market benchmark.

Financial Times, The Times