Executives at newsagent chain McColl’s received a £5.3m share-related bonus last year after the company’s IPO on the London Stock Exchange, but missed out on a profit-based annual bonus.

The four directors, including the now departed chief operating officer Martyn Aguss, received a total remuneration package of £7.2m – almost four times higher than in 2013 and primarily driven by the £5.3m of share awards related to the February 2014 float.

Chief executive James Lancaster’s core pay package was unchanged year-on-year but the £2.36m of share awards took his total remuneration to £3.2m from £834k during the previous year. CFO Jonathan Miller received shares worth £2.17m, taking his overall pay to £2.6m.

Lancaster and Miller both owned stakes of around 28% prior to the float, which were valued at approximately £56m after the deal.

The company’s share price has dipped further since its 191p float, trading today at 170p having hit an all-time low of 150p early this month.

The executive directors did not receive an annual bonus as operating profit “did not exceed the stretching targets” set by the remuneration committee.

After the listing, the remuneration committee has reviewed its executive pay policy and created a scheme that could almost double the directors’ pay if targets related to an annual bonus and long term incentives are achieved.

Lancaster’s basic salary will remain unchanged at £594k, meaning his minimum pay (including pension and benefits) will be £838k. This can rise to £1.58m depending on performance targets. Miller will receive a 5% pay rise to £331k and his minimum package of £470k can rise to £884k depending on performance.

Aguss, who left the group in the summer, received an additional £129,000 as compensation for loss of office.

The average salary increase awarded across the wider McColl’s staff was around 2% for the 2015 financial period.

Earlier this month, McColl’s announced that revenues grew 6.1% from £869.4m in 2013 to £922.4m in the 53 weeks to 30 November. When adjusting for the extra week, growth levels came down to 4.1% and like-for-like sales were up 0.7%

Operating profit before exceptional items increased by 13.2% to £25.5m and pre-tax profit rose from £4.4m to £12.6m.

During the year the company incurred £4.54m of IPO-related costs.

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