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Todd Kozel’s pay slashed at Gulf Keystone Petroleum.
Todd Kozel, founder and chief executive of Gulf Keystone Petroleum, has accepted a reduction of his annual pay from $21m to less than $3m as the Kurdistan-focused oil explorer this week moves from Aim to London’s main list.
Details of the pay cuts to Mr Kozel and two other executives at Gulf Keystone – who saw their pay fall by about two-thirds following a sharp decline in the company’s share price – were contained in annual results issued on Thursday.
Shares in the company have fallen from a peak of 465p in early 2012 to 105p, hit by a disappointing third-party estimate of oil reserves and the announcement of plans to raise $250m in debt to help pay for required development work in Kurdistan.
Mr Kozel had previously defended the scale of his bonuses, arguing two years ago: “We are the type of people who should receive payment, we are exactly the kind of people who do deserve our bonuses.”
However, a report commissioned by the company’s remuneration committee last autumn accepted that Gulf Keystone’s executive pay scheme risked over-rewarding its top executives.
Andrew Simon, who took command of the remuneration committee following a shareholder revolt and departure of former non-executive director Mehdi Varzi last July, said: “Whilst basic salary levels have been kept low in the past, the benchmarking exercise carried out by Deloitte helped us to conclude that the level of long-term incentives and short-term bonuses were notably above the market range.”
Gulf Keystone’s annual report for 2012 calculated Mr Kozel’s emoluments at close to $14m, down from $22m the previous year. However, he also gained $7m on exercising share options, maintaining his status as one of the highest paid executives of a London-quoted company.
Further consultation would now take place with major shareholders on a revised pay policy, Mr Simon said, noting: “There has in the past been some investor concern about certain aspects of executive remuneration.”
He added: “Executive directors decided on their own initiative that no short-term bonuses were to be paid for 2013 given the performance of the business.”
John Gerstenlauer, chief operating officer, saw his total pay fall from $4.6m to $1.2m last year. Ewen Ainsworth, finance director, accepted a cut from $2.9m to $738,000. All three continue to enjoy substantial shareholding interests and the potential for further bonus awards under the existing long-term incentive plan.
News of the trimming of executive pay at Gulf Keystone, at one stage Aim’s top ranked company by market capitalisation and a retail investor darling, came as the company reported narrowing pre-tax losses for the year from $80m to £32m.
Simon Murray, appointed as chairman last year as Mr Kozel split his own role of executive chairman, admitted Gulf Keystone had failed to achieve the level of oil sales that had been hoped for during 2013.
However, he and Mr Kozel pointed to an increase in truck-borne oil exports via Turkey from its important Shaikan field in Kurdistan, which is expected to improve cash flows this year as production is expected to rise from 10,000 to 40,000 barrels of oil a day.