UK boards are increasingly boosting CEO pay to match those of their US counterparts in a bid to attract and retain top execs, the Financial Times reports.

Sign of the times: The trend signals a shift in attitude among UK executives, boards, and investors who were once reluctant to engage in salary wars. “When you look at standards for compensation around the world, the US is in a different place,” said London Stock Exchange Group CEO David Schwimmer. “And that is an issue companies competing on a global basis from a base in London need to take into account.”

Warning shots: Among CEOs leaving the UK in search of larger salaries stateside was Laxham Narasimham who left a USD 7.5 mn role at the UK’s Reckitt Benckiser in 2022 to head Starbucks in the US for USD 28 mn a year — a nearly 4x salary increase.

But understandably, not everyone is on board: “All increasing increasing executive pay is likely to do is increase the pay packages of some of the richest people, while doing nothing to tackle the fundamental issues underlying the UK’s economic woes,” a spokesperson for the thinktank High Pay Centre told the salmon-colored paper.

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THE CLOSING BELL-

The TASI rose 0.2% yesterday on turnover of SAR 12.9 bn. The index is up 5.5% YTD.

In the green: Avalon Pharma (+29.9%), AlRajhi Takaful (+10%) and Sasco (+8.8%).

In the red: Petro Rabigh (-8%), AlBaha(-6.7%) and Riyadh Cables (-5.1%).

CORPORATE ACTIONS-

#1- ACWA Power’s board of directors has recommended a dividend payout of SAR 329 mn at SAR 0.45 apiece, it said in a disclosure to Tadawul last week.

#2- Umm Al Qura Cement Co’s board of directors has recommended withholding dividends for FY 2023 to help “support and strengthen the financial position of the company,” it said in a disclosure to Tadawul yesterday. The cement maker’s net income fell 82.8% y-o-y last year to SAR 4 mn from SAR 23 mn a year earlier.

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