Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

$2 million pay cut for Telecom chief

Updated at 3:01 pm on 21 August 2010

Telecom chief executive Paul Reynolds has taken a pay cut of $2 million, reflecting a challenging year for the company.

The company's underlying profit fell by 20% to $382 million in the year to June.

Telecom's annual report shows that Dr Reynolds's salary package was worth $3 million, $2 million less than he earned last year.

The decrease is due mainly to a drop in his annual bonus, down from $3 million last year to $900,000 this year.

Telecom says the drop reflects a challenging year for the company and the at-risk component of remuneration packages.

Those challenges include problems with the 111 emergency system, the XT network and the company's decision to split into two in an attempt to win the Government's $1.5 million ultra-fast broadband contract.

Copyright © 2010, Radio New Zealand