Newcrest CEO rides gold surge for bonus
The boss of gold miner has emerged as one of the top paid CEO’s on the ASX.
Newcrest Mining chief Sandeep Biswas has emerged as one of the ASX’s best paid chief executives as the gold miner rode surging bullion prices over the past year.
Newcrest’s annual report shows Mr Biswas was paid $US7.3m ($10m) last financial year, including a $US1.1m cash bonus earned for performance in the 2019 financial year and $US4.6m worth of shares under Newcrest’s short and long-term incentive plans.
His total pay packet rose $US900,000 for the year, from the $US6.4m he was actually paid in the 2019 financial year, including a $US1m cash bonus and $US3.5m in shares for performance in previous periods.
By comparison, last financial year new BHP boss Mike Henry, appointed as the mining giant’s new CEO of January 1, took home $US6m in actual payments from the company, including bonus payments earned in previous financial periods. It also edges out Rio Tinto boss Jean-Sébastien Jacques who last calender year was paid $US7.09m - before the coronavirus pandemic took hold.
The move came as the company is looking to lock in the flexibility to hold virtual shareholder meetings when the world emerges from the coronavirus crisis, flagging a shareholder vote on changes to its constitution at its annual meeting in November.
The constitutional update would allow Newcrest to hold shareholder meetings “at multiple places, using technology that gives shareholders a reasonable opportunity to participate”, and allow the company to consider shareholders that vote their shares through an online system to be recognised as having been “present” for the meeting.
The coronavirus crisis has led to a renewed push from some companies and directors for the long-term relaxation of laws requiring companies to hold a physical annual general meeting each year.
But a spokeswoman for Newcrest said the changes did not indicate the company was planning to abandon the practise even if laws allowed.
“No, we are not intending to signal a permanent move away from in-person shareholder meetings,” she said.
“Our amendments were just intended to update the constitution to provide greater flexibility for shareholder meetings.”
Newcrest shareholders will also be given the opportunity to make clear their views on Mr Biswas’s standing as one of the best paid chief executives.
Both Mr Biswas and chief financial officer Gerard Bond are also Newcrest directors and ASX listing rules means the company must put performance rights that can be issued to the pair under the company’s long-term incentive plan to a shareholder vote.
Newcrest’s annual report shows Mr Biswas’s statutory earnings – reflecting moneys earned through the year, not what was actually paid for the period, given actual payments include incentive payments from previous years – fell $US563,000 to $US5.7m.
Despite the steadily rising gold price last financial year, Newcrest’s free cash flow before merger and acquisition activity fell 23.8 per cent to $US670m, with cash flows from operating activities down $US16m to $US1.47bn.
But EBITDA margin on its gold production was up 4.2 per cent, to 46.8 per cent.
Newcrest sold gold for an average $US1530 an ounce last financial year, compared to $US1269 in the previous period. Its mines produced 2.17 million ounces of gold, down from 2.49 million the previous year.
Newcrest shares closed down 16c at $31.13 on Monday, against a 2.6 per cent rise in the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index.