Dexus said hasta la vista to Antink

Despite announcing his retirement last year, before holding more farewell parties than Johnny Farnham held farewell tours, Dexus disclosed yesterday that Whispering Victor was paid a $1.55 million termination payment after he left the company.

And while other mere mortals would usually be required to serve out an entire year before bagging a bonus, he was also paid a $825,000 cash performance payment and a further $816,000 in accrued leave. All up, about $6.3 million for his final few months.

Despite Dexuss security price trading well below where it was in 2005, over the six years to his final full-year, Hoog Antink saw his total remuneration go from $750,000 a year to $4.85 million.

He will not be around to see whether the property trust records another above 25 per cent no vote to its remuneration report at its upcoming annual meeting.

The company has already attempted to head off any potential shareholder revolt by announcing a pay freeze for its new chief, Darren Steinberg, this financial year along with raising the targets on its incentive payments to senior staff.

Dexus has also ensured it is getting only the best advice on how it should pay its executives. The company forked out more than $200,000 in remuneration advisory services to Ernst & Young and Egan Associates last financial year.

Mineral wealth

Mineral Resources is not kidding when it notes how its remuneration policy is designed to promote superior performance and long-term commitment to the company. The mining services company disclosed yesterday that its executive chairman of six years, Peter Wade, enjoyed a $481,000 bump up in his base salary last financial year to $981,000.

But Wade probably barely noticed this annual salary increase, given the $25 million he pocketed in March from selling more than half of his stake in Mineral Resources. The sale proved timely, given the companys share price fell more than 30 per cent in the weeks after the sale.

The share sale came just after Wade also booked a fully-franked $547,000 dividend cheque from the company. He is in line for another $425,000 dividend cheque in October.

The groups founder and major shareholder, Chris Ellison, also managed a doubling in his annual base salary to $872,000. Again chickenfeed when compared to the $41.3 million worth of shares he offloaded in March, just before the share price fall.

Ellison will be in line for a $8 million dividend payment in October.

Parties related to Ellison and Wade also collected a further $1.5 million in rent from the company. Meanwhile, the mining tycoon Gina Rinehart will collect a $4.55 million final dividend cheque from her 8 per cent stake in the company, which reported a 60 per cent rise in full-year profits.

Turning Japanese

At least someone is excited about the country that is about to enter its third lost decade.

It sounds odd but thats part of the attraction, a fired-up AMP chief executive, Craig Dunn, said yesterday about the worlds third-biggest economy, Japan.

Obviously its been a country thats had challenges economically for the past couple of decades, he added.

Dunn said the opportunity, however, was tapping into the second-largest savings market in the world and investing it in other markets.

It might be Aussie fixed interest, it might be global real estate fund, it could be infrastructure debt funds in Europe  these are the sorts of things people want to invest in, because they are high-yielding funds and thats what you want in retirement, he said.

Good to see Dunn is also excited about debt funds in Europe.

No direction home

Tatts Groups outgoing chief executive for the past six years, Dick McIlwain, ruled out returning to his home town of Brisbane yesterday, despite the gambling companys plans to move its head office there next year.

Ah well, its just one of those little ironies in life, said McIlwain, who moved from Brisbane to Melbourne to head up the merged Tatts and UNiTAB in 2006.

As for the legal action Tatts plans to launch against the Victorian government in relation to the loss of its gaming licence, McIlwain said: It will save me having to look at the Queens honour list.

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