Tesco’s boss Ken Murphy admits he’s ‘effectively paid’

Tesco’s boss admitted he is ‘well paid’ as investors gave his £10million haul the green light.

Ken Murphy, chief executive of Britain’s biggest supermarket, saw his pay more than double to £9.9million last year after annual profits hit £2.3billion and it won business off rivals.

It took his earnings since he took over in October 2020 to £20million.

Quizzed about his pay yesterday, the 58-year-old said: ‘I absolutely accept that I’m well paid.’

He added his remuneration was ‘delegated’ by shareholders and two-thirds of it was reliant on his ability to hit long-term targets.

The remarks came ahead of Tesco’s annual general meeting where 93.5 per cent of voting shareholders backed his pay.

His bumper pay packet is thought to be the largest amount ever awarded to a UK supermarket boss.

The vote over boardroom pay came just hours after Tesco posted sales of £15.3billion for the three months to May 25 – up 3.4 per cent on the same period last year.

Sales in the UK – where it does the bulk of its business – were up 4.6 per cent to £11.4billion.

Murphy said customers were buying more amid a ‘gentle upward tick in optimism’ helped by lower inflation and a boost to National Living Wage in April.

Sales are expected to do even better as the summer hots up with Euro 2024 getting under way yesterday, and the Paris Olympics beginning next month.

On the looming General Election, Murphy did not back any party but said he wanted ‘stability and consistency’ from the next government.

He added: ‘We continue to be the cheapest full-line grocer and are the most competitive we’ve ever been.’

Murphy said its slice of the grocery sector was ‘growing more than at any other time in the past two years, with customers switching to us from other retailers, shopping with us more often and with more in their baskets’.

Sophie Lund-Yates, an analyst at broker Hargreaves Lansdown, said Tesco has ‘done exceptionally well’ to boost its market share amid stiff competition.

But at a time when fat-cat pay across various sectors has riled both investors and the public, Sharon Graham, general secretary of trade union Unite, said Murphy’s windfall was a ‘slap in the face to the millions of struggling workers and their families who paid for it through higher food bills’.

Murphy’s pay is more than double that of Simon Roberts, chief executive of the country’s second-largest supermarket Sainsbury’s.

But a potential £15million award for Ocado boss Tim Steiner would top Murphy’s.

The tech founder could be paid a share award worth £14.8million from 2027 if he improves the stock market performance and boosts cash flow.