Fat cats 'a cancer in society', says £2m-a-year boss

Niall Fitzgerald, the £2m-a-year chairman of Unilever, who also has a £11.7m pension pot, branded massive payoffs to unsuccessful directors as "a potential cancer in our society".

Mr FitzGerald made his comments during Unilever's annual general meeting where some shareholders voiced concerns over the level of his salary and pension benefits.

One shareholder accused Mr FitzGerald of being a "fat cat" and questioned the legitimacy of the chairman's 9 per cent salary increase during a year that saw turnover at Unilever down by 5.4 per cent, although profits before tax had risen by 11 per cent.

The irate shareholder also went on to question the legitimacy of Mr FitzGerald's role on the Confederation of British Industry's Boardroom Issues Group, a body recently set up to look at tackling the problem of rewarding company executives who fail.

Shareholders also voiced concerns over Unilever's poor performance in the first quarter, after turnover fell 4 per cent and pre-tax profits rose 2 per cent.

Mr FitzGerald stressed thatUnilever remained on course to achieve growth of 5-6 per cent through to 2004. "Sometimes quarters don't turn out as you expect," he said.

The remuneration report was passed by a vote of 89 per cent, with only 7 per cent against and 4 per cent abstaining.

Mr FitzGerald said: "It is a very competitive market in which we operate and we need to be able to attract and retain the best talent available.... Would I like it to be different in the broader sense of society? Maybe. But we live in the society we live in."