ITC’s Puri highest paid CEO among his FMCG peers

Puri also outlined his ‘ITC Next’ strategy in FY24 putting focus on innovation and R&D, digitalisation, sustainability and cost agility, productivity and efficient supply chain management. (Image: Reuters)

Sanjiv Puri, chairman and managing director (CMD) of ITC, was the highest-paid chief executive officer (CEO) among some of the country’s top fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) peers in FY24. Annual reports for a few FMCG firms, including Hindustan Unilever (HUL) and Nestle India, have been released so far.

Puri took home a total remuneration of Rs 25.18 crore in FY24, a growth of 54.3% versus last year. HUL’s CEO and MD Rohit Jawa and Nestle India’s CMD Suresh Narayanan took home `22.39 crore and `23.52 crore each for the twelve months ended March 31, 2024. Narayanan has seen a nearly 33% year-on-year growth in remuneration in FY24. Jawa, on the other hand, took over from Sanjiv Mehta in June-end of 2023, implying this is his first annual compensation from the firm.

Puri’s package this year interestingly is on par with last year’s highest-paid CEO – Marico’s Saugata Gupta. In FY23, Gupta took home a compensation package of Rs 25.11 crore. HUL’s then CEO & MD Sanjiv Mehta was the second-highest paid CEO at Rs 22.36 crore, followed by Nestle’s Narayanan at Rs 17.74 crore. Puri was ranked fourth in the pecking order in FY23, taking home a total remuneration of Rs 16.32 crore.

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Analysts say that Puri has steered ITC during a challenging FY24, marked by a rural slowdown and competitive intensity from regional players within the FMCG business. Puri maintained both pace of launches and ensured that distribution expansion continued within the business, especially in rural areas. The ITC board also approved the demerger of its hotels business into a separate entity, unlocking value for shareholders.

Puri also outlined his ‘ITC Next’ strategy in FY24 putting focus on innovation and R&D, digitalisation, sustainability and cost agility, productivity and efficient supply chain management.

A look at Puri’s FY24 compensation shows a basic salary of Rs 3.12 crore, perquisites and other benefits of Rs 57.7 lakh and a performance bonus of Rs 21.48 crore for FY24. This compares with Rs 2.88 crore, Rs 57.38 lakh and Rs 12.88 crore, each, for the previous year.

In the year under review, Puri was also granted a total of 1,34,500 stock options from the company. As of March 31, 2024, Puri held 2,79,843 ordinary shares.