Burberry has handed its new chief executive a “golden hello” worth as much as £9.2m to tackle a fashion crisis that has sent its shares plunging to their lowest level in 14 years. The label suspended its dividend as it issued its third profit warning in months and parted ways with after little over two years.
Chairman Gerry Murphy conceded that the performance was “disappointing” as he called on American executive Joshua Schulman to turn around the British icon. Burberry is handing him a pay package worth as much as £9.2m, including a £1.
2m salary, bonuses and a “recruitment share award” worth £3.6m. The welcome is even more generous than the £6m “golden hello” handed to Mr Akeroyd.
Following his final quarter in charge, Burberry reported that except Japan in the first quarter, prompting a warning that it will report an operating loss for the first half of the financial year. Investors marked Burberry down by 17pc to leave it with a valuation of only £2.6bn and on course for relegation from the FTSE 100, which it joined in 2009.
The company has lost two thirds of its value in the last year. Mr Akeroyd had sought to take Burberry upmarket with more cutting-edge fashions, and higher prices for its famous trench coats and handbags. The shift has proven difficult, however, and Mr Murphy indicated a change of course under Mr Schulman with “decisive action to rebalance our offer to be more familiar to Burberry’s core customers.
” Mr Murphy said the compan.