Tesco’s Ken Murphy, who earns almost £10m a year, admits he is ‘well paid’

The Cork-born boss was asked about his annual remuneration of almost £10m following the publication of Tesco’s first quarter results.

“I absolutely accept that I’m well paid,” said Mr Murphy, who added that two-thirds of his remuneration depends on reaching long-term financial goals.

Mr Murphy received remuneration of £9.93m in the year to February 24, 2024, up from £4.44m a year earlier. This excluded buyout awards, according to Tesco’s annual report published last month.

His fixed pay was £1.41m and he also received £3.38m in bonuses across the year. Mr Murphy received a further £4.91m from the group’s performance share plan (PSP).

Today’s News in 90 seconds – 14th June 2024

Tesco shareholders will be asked to vote on a motion to support the chief executive’s pay package today at the group’s annual general meeting.

Tesco has faced a backlash from a number of NGOs and trade unions following the jump in Mr Murphy’s package.

“Ken Murphy’s £5m wage increase is a slap in the face to the millions of struggling workers and their families who paid for it through higher food bills,” UK trade union Unite’s general secretary Sharon Graham has said.

“In a world where Tesco are making a £2.3 billion profit a year, paying those who keep the stores safe and clean the real Living Wage shouldn’t have to be asked for – it should be automatic,” added NGO ShareAction’s Dan Howard.

In the company’s results for the first quarter of the year published today, Tesco reported that shoppers were purchasing more as a result of easing inflation. It recorded group sales of £15.3bn in the 13 weeks ended May 25, an increase of 3.4pc from the same period in 2023.

Sales in Ireland rose 4.4pc to £731m in the period. Food sales in Ireland rose 5pc, with the retailer pointing to strong demand for fresh food.

“We grew our store footprint to 175 stores during this quarter and saw a strong performance in our online grocery home shopping business,” Tesco Ireland interim chief executive Geoff Byrne said.

“Our ongoing store refurbishment upgrades, focused on enhancing fresh food areas, continues to receive positive feedback from our customers,” he added.

Tesco also reiterated its guidance for the year. It expects retail adjusted operating profit of at least £2.8bn in its current financial year.