Remuneration for the five most senior executives at Alimentation Couche-Tard jumped 56% last year as the operator of convenience stores and gas stations benefited from higher margins on the price of fuel.
Together, the five best-paid managers of the Laval company received emoluments of 40.7 million during the 2023 financial year ended April 30, compared to 26.1 million, according to regulatory documents sent to shareholders.
Chairman and CEO Brian Hannasch’s compensation rose 50% to $18.5 million. The amount includes a “special bonus” of 2.5 million “in connection with the achievement of the five-year strategic plan to double the results again” of the company.
In fiscal 2023, Couche-Tard posted net income of US$3.1 billion, compared to US$2.7 billion in the same period last year. Much of the rise was due to higher fuel margins, the company explains in the document.
The short-term bonuses were determined at 75% by the achievement of financial targets, explains the chair of the human resources committee of the board of directors, Mélanie Kau, in a letter to shareholders. For individual targets, these were achieved at 85.46% “on average” for the five big bosses of the company.
Company founder Alain Bouchard, who still serves as executive chairman of the board, received $8.3 million in compensation. Mr. Bouchard was not eligible for the special bonus.
Mr. Bouchard holds a 12.6% interest. Its shares will have enabled it to obtain more than 61.6 million in dividends during the 2023 financial year, according to an estimate made from the available data.
The shareholders’ circular also indicates that the chief financial officer, Claude Tessier, was entitled to an 8.8 million payment if he had retired on April 30 (at the end of the financial year). Mr. Tessier retired three months after the end of fiscal year 2023 on July 1.
While Mr. Hannasch, who lives in Columbus, Indiana, does not speak French, the company points out that 14 of the 16 director candidates speak French, or 87.5%.
Couche-Tard will hold its shareholders’ meeting, virtually, on September 7.