Lithium miner boosts CEO pay

Pilbara Minerals boss Dale Henderson has become one of Western Australia’s best-paid executives after his base salary was boosted to $1.25 million.

The company said the pay rise was warranted after benchmarking his remuneration against 21 other ASX companies.

It comes just four months after Mr Henderson was promoted to chief executive and managing director.

He was paid $515,000 in base salary and superannuation in his previous role as chief operating officer and $900,000 after being promoted on 1 June.

His previous package was a small increase on the $850,000 paid to his predecessor Ken Brinsden.

Mr Henderson’s time as chief executive has coincided with strong growth in Pilbara Minerals’ share price, as investors chase exposure to companies producing lithium and other battery metals.

It is currently trading at $4.65 per share, after reaching an all-time high of $5.08 this month.

Its market capitalisation is currently $13.6 billion, making it WA’s fifth most valuable company after Woodside Energy, Fortescue Metals Group, Wesfarmers and South32.

The high valuation reflects an expectation Pilbara Minerals will be one of the big winners from the global decarbonisation trend.

The latest Business News executive remuneration survey shows there are just eight other executives based in WA with a base salary above $1.25 million - www.businessnews.com.au/bniq/executive-salaries

The data highlights the correlation between executive’s base salaries and the size of their company.

In the case of Pilbara Minerals, it has assembled a list of 21 ASX companies as the comparator group for assessing its executive remuneration.

It factored in company size, sector and risk profile to establish a representative group that it may compete with for executive talent.

It includes Bluescope Steel, Firefinch, Iluka Resources, IGO, Lynas Rare Earths, Mineral Resources, OZ Minerals and 29 Metals.