The board of directors at Hotel Developers Ltd (HDL) – owners of the Hilton Colombo, have approved a monthly wage of Rs 400,000 for company Chairman Thirukumar Nadesan effective from October 2011 in a decision made two weeks before the company was acquired by the government.
HDL is listed as an ‘under-performing’ asset in laws passed this week to take over 37 enterprises. The board decision was made at its meeting on October 24 where Cornel Perera, a director, suggested that the chairman’s salary should be on par with the General Manager of the hotel and then went on to recommend Rs 400,000 which was accepted by the board. Earlier at a September 8 board meeting, details of which were received by the Business Times, the board decided to purchase a BMW, SUV or similar vehicle for the use of the chairman and for the sale of the Hyundai vehicle currently being used. Mr Nadesan was also praised by directors for successfully negotiating a reduction in the management fees and group services to 11.75% from 33 %.
HDL Chairmen in the past have not received a payment for their services apart from perks like heavy discounts on hotel bills. Some years back the Treasury agreed to a monthly payment of Rs 50,000 to the chairman but that was not implemented.
In its recently released 2010 annual report, its first in many years, HDL reported an accumulated loss of Rs 10.3 billion. The company’s AGM is on November 21. |
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