Sony chief Howard Stringer angers Japan with £3m pay

Sony boss Howard Stringer took home more than £3 million as well as share and stock options in the past financial year despite the electronics giant's losses hitting £300 million.

The Welsh chief executive's windfall makes him one of the highest paid executives at a Japanese company, and the news has irritated shareholders in a country that has only recently demanded public companies reveal more about executive pay.

Under new regulations, Japanese companies must report what they pay executives earning over 100 million yen (£741,000) a year.

Foreign executives such as Stringer and Nissan's Brazilian boss Carlos Ghosn are thought to make much more than their Japanese counterparts.

Stringer was voted back in as chairman and chief executive at the annual shareholders' meeting in Tokyo on Friday, despite having struggled to significantly improve Sony's competitiveness since he took the top job in 2005.

Sony posted a net loss of 40.8 billion yen (£302 million) last year and continues to play catch-up with rivals such as Samsung Electronics in TVs and Apple in personal music players.

Shareholders said they welcomed the openness on executive pay, but some were unhappy with the amount Stringer received.

"When you're making a loss, you need to tighten your own belt a bit," said Katsuhiko Koyanagi, 72, a shareholder and former Sony employee. "That's the Japanese way, but maybe he doesn't understand it."

Stringer received 410 million yen (£3.04 million) in fixed and performance-related pay in the year to March. He was also given 500,000 stock options.