Optus CEO scoops $2.1m pay

Optus chief Paul O'Sullivan received a total pay package of $2.1 million in the year to 31 March 2009, the company's annual report released today has revealed.

Paul O'Sullivan, Optus CEO
(Credit: Optus)

O'Sullivan was, along with Allen Lew, the CEO of Optus parent SingTel, the highest paid of SingTel's executives across its Singaporean and Australian operations listed in its annual report. With superannuation and benefits, O'Sullivan took home $2.1 million, the same as Lew himself.

At a recent business conference in Sydney, O'Sullivan joked that while he was the longest serving chief in the sector, he was not the highest paid.

His pay, including benefits and bonuses, is on par with Telstra's new chief David Thodey's basic fixed pay of $2 million, although Thodey also has a substantial bonus structure that could see him earn millions more overall.

The two chiefs' pay drew closer this year, however, with Telstra's decision to slice one million off the $3 million fixed pay awarded to former Telstra boss Sol Trujillo.

Mobile led growth
Optus' revenue of $8.3 billion grew 7 per cent over the year compared to the year previous, while earnings before tax, depreciation and ammortisation (EBITDA) grew 3 per cent to reach $2.07 billion. Its net profit was $583 million, up 5 per cent for the year. SingTel blamed Australia's falling dollar for the company's overall flat performance. Still, Optus revenues contributed two thirds of the Singaporean company's total.

As per its previous report, mobile revenues dominated Optus' earnings profile at $44.9 billion, up 13 per cent from last year. Fixed line revenues grew 5.5 per cent to $1.97 billion, but were brought down by shrinking fixed business and wholesale revenues, which fell 8 per cent to $1.4 billion. Fixed line consumer revenue made a loss of $12 million, which was an improvement on the $20 million loss last financial year.