AB InBev chief executive officer Carlos Brito will not receive a bonus for the first time in eight years. “Because performance targets for 2016 were not met, the CEO and most of his management team received zero variable compensation,” AB InBev said in its annual report, which was published last Thursday. "When we do not meet our objectives, we take responsibility for it," the company went on to say.
When asked about it, Brito said: “If you own a bakery and don’t make any money one year, you don’t get a bonus — this is the same thing.” But he also made clear that last year’s weak performance was merely a slip-up and that he would redouble efforts for the next year. “After a bad year, that’s when you see leaders rising to the occasion,” he said.
But there is no need to worry that Brito now has to restrict his lifestyle. Last year, he was paid a fixed salary of €1.48m ($1.6m) and was granted in addition 396,266 share options this January, which can be exercised after five years.
As already reported earlier, AB InBev recorded last week for the first time in its 13 years of history a sharp decline in core earnings. Net profits slipped $7.1bn down to $1.2bn in 2016. Reasons were higher financing costs after the purchase of SABMiller and a weak performance of AB InBev’s second most important market Brazil.
