BE bosses eye a £25m bonanza

SEVEN British Energy directors could share in a £25m-plus bonus bonanza three years from now - after leaving shareholders with just 2.5% of the company.

Chief nuclear officer Roy Anderson looks set to top the bonus payouts and could take home up to £9.89m.

The six other directors - including chief executive Mike Alexander and finance director Stephen Billingham - are set to receive the payments under a three-year performance-related bonus scheme detailed yesterday as part of the firm's plans to relist its shares.

The payments follow the firm's restructuring - swapping £1bn of debt for shares in a new entity - with creditors taking 97.5% of the shares.

The bonuses are dependant on EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) of £1.6bn, and on BE generating 24% more hours of nuclear output than currently in the year to March 2008.

Alexander defended the scheme last night, saying: 'This was road tested with the creditors and if the targets are met it would be transformational for this company.'

The payments come on top of a £100,000 payment to chairman Adrian Montague if the restructuring is completed and £200,000 to Billingham in lieu of payments by former employer WS Atkins.

BE advisers will pick up £104m in fees. The top earner is BE's City law firm Clifford Chance, which has charged £25.7m.

Bondholders and shareholders will ratify the company's relisting prospectus at an extraordinary general meeting on 22 December, followed by a court hearing on 14 January.

The shares could relist, at an as-yet-undisclosed price, as soon as 15 January.

But BE is seeking creditor approval to push the rescue deadline to the end of March from the original 31 January, just in case.