Kensington chief gets £2m package
SIMON Kingdon, who stepped down from specialist lender Kensington Group last year, left with a £2m pay package - making him one of the best-rewarded finance directors at a public company.
Kingdon quit the board of Kensington on 1 October after earning £313,000 in salary, bonuses, benefits and pension contributions for his 10 months' work. But it was the £1.7m boost from exercising long-term share options that made the major contribution to his fortune.
He left Kensington, which lends to the self-employed and part-time workers, to take up the role of finance director at the company's new venture Money Partners Ltd (MPL), which lends to individuals who may be refused loans by other High Street lenders.
Kingdon, who has an equity stake in West London-based MPL, could make another small fortune there under an equity-sharing deal with Kensington. The company has the right to buy out the remaining equity in MPL, including what is thought to be a large shareholding owned by Kingdon, over the next three years.
Kensington has invested just under £1 million to take a minority stake in MPL and is providing £2m of debt to help fund the start-up costs.
The pay package of its chief executive, John Maltby, grew to £629,000 last year from £551,000 in 2003, with his £300,000 of performance-related bonus outstripping his £275,000 salary.
Kensington has been one of the best-performing stocks in the small finance sector. The company, floated at 225p a share in November 2000, reached a high of 656p earlier this year and now trades at about 555p, giving Kensington a market value of around £287m.
