Admiral’s Engelhardt gets 3.7% pay rise in 2013

Admiral chief executive Henry Engelhardt was paid a total of £387,546 in 2013, up 3.7% on the £373,759 he was paid in 2012.

The motor insurer’s annual report, released today, also shows that chief operating officer David Stevens enjoyed a pay rise in 2013. His total pay increased 3.9% to £364,529 (2012: £350,687).

However, chief financial officer Kevin Chidwick suffered a 2.7% drop in total pay to £1.39m (2012: £1.43m).

Chidwick’s total pay is higher than Admiral’s other two executive directors because he participates in the company’s pension plan and the two share-based incentive schemes: the discretionary free share scheme (DFSS) and the share incentive plan (SIP).

Neither Engelhardt nor Stevens participate in the DFSS or SIP because of their existing  “significant” shareholdings in Admiral.

Engelhardt owns 35.5 million Admiral shares (12.9% of the total company) and Stevens holds 10.1 million (3.7% of the total).

Chidwick was also paid £165,000 in 2013 (2012: £260,000) to reimburse him for expenses incurred by being based in the US, where he has been since taking over as chief executive of Admiral’s US-based insurer Elephant Auto.

The drop in Chidwick’s pay was mainly caused by the smaller expense reimbursement in 2013.

Admiral performed well in 2013. Its core UK motor business made a profit of £393m, up 6% on 2012’s £372m.

The company also reported a market-leading combined operating ratio (COR) of 81% in 2013, an 8.2 percentage point improvement of 2012’s 89.1%.