Uniphar’s combined executive pay packets top €2.2m

Executive directors at Uniphar shared combined remuneration of more than €2.2 million in 2022 after gross profits at the healthcare services group jumped by almost 12 per cent to €306.7 million during the year.

Details on the pay for chief executive Ger Rabbette’s and chief financial officer Tim Dolphin’s are set out in the Dublin-listed company’s annual report.

It shows that Mr Rabbette earned a base salary of €688,000 with his total fixed pay topping €713,000 after pension and other benefits are included. He was also paid a bonus of €603,000, bringing his total pay to more than €1.3 million, up from €1.28 million in 2021.

Mr Dolphin, meanwhile, earned total fixed pay of €487,000 and a €402,000 bonus, bringing his total package to €889,000 for the year, up from €865,000 in 2021.

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The executive directors were also granted share options in 2022, according to the report, “subject to a vesting period of four years and two months”.

Sue Webb, chair of Uniphar’s remuneration committee, noted in the report that the share option scheme “was necessary in order to continue to align the remuneration of executive directors with the long-term interests of shareholders” under the performance conditions set out in a 2019 long-term incentive scheme.

The report states that 80 per cent of executive bonus pay is linked to group performance in achieving certain targets while 20 per cent “is linked to non-financial performance targets”. However, Ms Webb noted that “the performance targets linked to each metric” are “commercially sensitive and are therefore not disclosed”.

Separately, Uniphar had just two woman directors last year, representing 25 per cent of its board. The company said in its annual report that it was “cognisant that this falls short of the Balance for Better Business guidance of 33 per cent woman representation by 2023″.

It has approved a “board diversity policy” to “formalise and expand on their commitment to diversity”.

Uniphar disclosed a mean gender pay gap of 14.3 per cent in its first gender pay report in December, above the national average of 12.6 per cent, according to PwC’s analysis of the figures produced by big Irish companies last year.

It said at the time that “the demographic split at the senior leadership and management level of the organisation significantly influences the overall gender pay gap”. According to its annual report, Uniphar has “engaged with employees in relevant parts of the business on the topic of gender pay gap reporting”.

The report also confirms that the board is recommending a €4.8 million total dividend for 2022, an increase of 5 per cent from 2021. It includes a €1.7 million interim dividend and a €3.1 million final dividend payable to shareholders on May 16th and pending approval at Uniphar’s annual general meeting on May 11th.

The group achieved gross profit growth of 11.7 per cent in 2022 to more than €306.7 million, 60 per cent of which was generated outside of Ireland. Its performance was “driven by strong organic gross profit growth of 5.7 per cent, in conjunction with the impact of acquisitions in both 2021 and 2022″.

The Citywest-anchored company spent €185 million on acquisitions last year. A fourth deal, the acquisition of the Sam McCauley chain of pharmacies, received clearance from the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) in early 2023 and Uniphar said it will be accounted for in its results for this year.

Another acquisition, the planned takeover of pharmacy solutions company NaviCorp, was blocked by the CCPC in December and will no longer proceed.