Gerry, Katie boost pay packets

Harvey Norman Malaysia

Updated: 10:19 am AEST 3 October 2017

Harvey Norman chairman and co-founder Gerry Harvey has taken home a marginally bigger pay cheque while also lifting his stake in the furniture, homewares and electricals retailer.

Harvey’s pay packet totalled $1.09 million for the year to June 30, fractionally up from his $1 million pay in the previous year thanks to a boost in long-term incentives, the company’s annual report shows.

The co-founder received a base salary of just over $746,000 and almost $312,000 in bonuses after the company reported a record profit before tax of $639.81 million in the 2016/17 financial year, on higher franchisee fees and a solid increase in its property values.

He also lifted his stake in the company by six million shares, bringing his total balance to more than 337 million.

Chief executive Katie Page, Harvey’s wife, was paid $3.3 million, up from $3.1 million a year earlier, earning more in both short-term and long-term incentives than her husband.

The report also shows that Page sold 210,000 shares in the company in March, taking her holding to 17.5 million, from roughly 17.7 million.

In August, Harvey said overseas stores had helped Harvey Norman achieve a record $448.98 million in net profit, up 28.8 per cent on the prior year, and that offshore business could account for more than half of his retail empire’s profits in five-10 years.

Harvey Norman shares were up 4 cents, or 1.04 per cent, at $3.89 at 1254 AEST on Friday, giving the company a market value of $4.3 billion.

Meanwhile earlier this week, Harvey Norman’s largest franchisee – its commercial division in NSW (HNCD) – signed an agreement with IoT company Quantify technology to sell its products into commercial and residential development projects throughout NSW and the ACT.

HNCD is the single largest Harvey Norman franchise and services builders, developers, architects and designers. The division has a projected turnover for this financial year of $300m with an annual growth rate in excess of 10 per cent.

Under the agreement, Quantify will establish a demonstration facility at HNCD’s showroom in Taren Point, NSW.

The companies estimate that the deal will yield $20-30m in sales per year in around three to five years.

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