mmO2 boss makes £1m as firm loses £10bn

mmO2 boss Peter Erskine pulled in more than £1m last year while his company posted a £10.2bn loss.

Erskine took a salary of £540,000, up from £450,000 last year; a bonus of £390,000 for hitting financial targets, £50,000 from an old BT incentive plan and £40,000 in benefits.

The irony of Erskine's reward for hitting financial targets appears to be all the more remarkable given the massive losses posted by his employer.

But mmO2 says Erskine deserves the rise and bonus for bringing in trading profits which are almost doubled. A company spokesman is reported to have said: "We are all slim kittens, not fat cats."

mmO2 reported earnings before financial charges of £859m, up from £433m last year and the operating loss dropped to £104m from £337m.

The company achieved its record losses last year, fifth highest ever recorded in Europe, partly through a £6bn write-down of its 3G licences. The rest was accounted for by the sale of its Dutch operation and taking a £2.4bn write-down on the value of its UK operations, brought along when it de-merged from BT.