LONDON (Reuters) - Barclays (L:BARC) almost halved the value of shares awarded to its top executives this year due to a share price fall, handing them stock worth 8.7 million pounds ($12 million) compared with 16.4 million pounds a year earlier.
New Barclays chief executive Jes Staley got the biggest payout with shares worth just under 1.8 million pounds, made up of his role-based allowance and a buyout payment for shares forfeited from previous employers.
Barclays' annual payday, announced on Tuesday, covers various incentive schemes including role-based "allowances" from the first quarter of the year, the vesting of shares awarded in the last three years, and bonuses paid this year in shares.
The shares went to the bank's top nine executives, down from the 11 who received the shares in 2015 following the departures of former CEO Antony Jenkins and ex investment bank boss Tom King.
Much of the decline in the value of the total shares awarded is due to the bank's plunging share price in the last year. The shares given to the top executives were worth 1.65 pounds each, the bank said, down from 2.53 pounds a year ago.
Barclays said on March 1 it would sell its Africa business as part of a plan by Staley to simplify the bank's structure and seek higher shareholder returns, after reporting a 2 percent profit drop and slashing its dividend.
