Joyce books his largest short-term cash bonus at Qantas

Alan Joyce’s remuneration rose 9pc in the last year, as Qantas paid his largest ever cash bonus.

Qantas chairman Leigh Clifford defended the healthy bonus payments to executives including Alan Joyce.

Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce has been well rewarded for the national carrier’s record year, cementing his place among the nation’s highest paid executives.

For the year to June 30, Mr Joyce received $13 million in pay, incentives and entitlements, including his largest ever short-term cash bonus of $3.3m.

The total pay packet was up 9 per cent on the prior year’s $11.9m and tops the salaries of the chief executives of the nation’s big four banks.

At the head of the queue for the big four is CBA boss Ian Narev, who took home $12.3m last year, with the bulk of his pay made up of a long-term bonus of $6.6m. Mr Narev’s base salary was $2.65m.

Mr Joyce has now received cash bonuses above $5m across the last two years after not receiving an annual bonus the year prior due to the airline’s lacklustre performance, which saw it post a stunning $2.8bn loss and request a government handout.

Since the end of the 2014 financial year the group has seen its share price recover from $1.35 to $3.26.

The market rally was crucial to Mr Joyce’s pay packet, with the rise aiding his long-term incentive payments.

His base pay came in at $2.1m, slightly above last year as a 5 per cent pay cut personally made in January 2014 by Mr Joyce was reinstated.

An identical 5 per cent pay reduction agreed by the Qantas board between January 2014 and June 2015 was also reinstated.

Qantas chairman Leigh Clifford defended the healthy bonus payments, noting shareholders had been rewarded through $1.5bn in buybacks and dividends, while non-executive employees received bonuses at the end of each of the last two financial years.

“When Qantas was not performing well financially, no bonuses were given, all executive salaries were frozen and the CEO took a pay cut,” he said.

“As the company has moved through its transformation the financial performance has turned around, we are able to reward our people.”

Mr Clifford labelled the turnaround in fortunes of the group a “major achievement”, with it culminating in a record $1.52 billion profit for the 2016 financial year.

The national carrier also announced the return of a shareholder dividend upon delivery of its result last month, after regular payouts were abandoned in 2009.

Mr Joyce was not the only executive celebrating the strong year with a bump in his remuneration, with Qantas International boss Gareth Evans accepting $4.4m and Jetstar boss Jayne Hrdlicka receiving $4.3m, both up around 10 per cent on the prior year.

Elsewhere, the airline’s chief financial officer Tino La Spina received $2.4m, Qantas Domestic boss Andrew David received $2.3m and Qantas Loyalty chief Lesley Grant was granted $2.9m.

For the entire executive group Qantas noted remuneration totalling $29.2m and total cash bonuses of $7.7m. The short-term cash rewards were up $3m on the comparable number last year.