Motorpoint to limit staff salary rises as bonuses for top bosses slashed

Motorpoint has slashed the bonuses of its top executives after suffering “the most difficult year” in its history.

The Derby-headquartered business recently reported a £10.4m pre-tax loss in the financial year ending March 31, 2024, up from £300,000 in the previous 12 months.

Its revenue also fell to £1bn from £1.4bn over the same period.

In its newly-filed annual report, Motorpoint slashed the bonuses of its chief executive and chief financial officer because of the firm’s most recent financial performance.

Chief executive Mark Carpenter took home a pay packet of £636,000 for the year, down from £808,000, with his bonus being reduced from 140,000 to £37,000.

Chief financial officer Chris Morgan also saw his pay go from £572,000 to £465,000 with his bonus being slashed from £102,000 to £27,000.

Motorpoint facing ‘continued challenging market conditions’

In the report, remuneration committee chair Mary McNamara said: “The business continued to encounter a number of well documented macroeconomic headwinds during FY24, which included higher interest rates and inflation, consumer uncertainty which reduced demand, supply chain challenges, and a falling used vehicle market.

“These have culminated in our financial targets not being met for the FY24 annual bonus.

“Whilst the non-financial elements of the bonus plan have delivered performance above threshold targets in relation to customer, employee, digital sales and reduction in scope one and two emissions, due to the challenging trading performance and the impact on financial performance, the committee used its discretion to reduce the level of bonus payable from 20.2 per cent to 10 per cent of maximum, which will apply to both the executive directors and the senior leadership team.”

Motorpoint added that because of the “continued challenging market conditions” there would be no salary increases for both executive and non-executive directors in its current financial year.

The average increase for its wider workforce would also be limited to two per cent.

McNamara added: “The committee considers its exercise of discretion in relation to the FY24 bonus outcome to be appropriate taking into account the financial performance of the company and the stakeholder experience during the year.

“The committee is satisfied that the remuneration policy operated as intended for FY24 and that only minimal changes are required for FY25 to its operation to ensure greater alignment of incentives with delivery of strategic priorities.”