B&Q boss nails down bumper 70% pay hike: Thierry Garnier to pocket £3.9m as Iran warfare hammers shares

DIY giant Kingfisher has awarded a bumper 70 per cent pay increase to chief executive Thierry Garnier, its annual report revealed yesterday.

The B&Q owner, whose brands also include Screwfix in the UK and Castorama in France and Poland, paid Garnier £3.9million for the year to the end of January, up from £2.3million the year before.

It is the latest big pay increase for a FTSE 100 boss to have been disclosed in recent months.

Garnier’s package included £1.1million in salary and benefits and £2.5million in bonuses. 

He has now been paid £19.4million since he took on the job in September 2019. 

It is the second-highest pay packet Garnier has received after he was awarded £5.9million in 2023.

Pay hike: Kingfisher boss Thierry Garner, pictured, has now been paid a total of £19.4m since he took on the job in September 2019

Andrew Speke, interim director of the High Pay Centre, a campaign group, said: ‘While the size of this would still only put Garnier in the mid‑range of FTSE 100 chief executive pay levels, the scale of this pay rise is extraordinary, especially compared with what ordinary workers can reasonably expect.

‘It’s another troubling sign that companies feel they have a licence to hand out massive pay rises while government and regulators largely look the other way.

‘In the context of a cost‑of‑living crisis that is set to intensify, this deserves a much stronger push‑back.’

Last month, Shell said boss Wael Sawan had seen his pay leap more than 60pc to almost £14million last year.

And AstraZeneca boss Pascal Soriot was handed his largest pay package last year, receiving £17.7million. 

The disclosure of Garnier’s award follows Kingfisher last month revealing a £73million writedown on its Castorama business in France, where it has been affected by weak consumer spending.

Shares have been hit by worries that the war in the Middle East will push borrowing costs higher and dampen the housing market.

A slump in people buying new homes could mean fewer sales of goods for DIY projects. Shares are down by nearly a quarter since the outbreak of the conflict at the end of February.

Previously, higher sales at its UK divisions helped underlying profits to grow 6pc to £560million for the year to the end of January.

Bosses have pencilled in annual profits for the current year of between £565m and £625million.