(Bloomberg) -- More than half of the chief executives at the U.K.'s biggest listed companies have had their salaries frozen this year, while a cut in bonuses means their average total compensation fell by more than $1 million, according to analysis by PwC.
Reduced bonuses for 2020 trimmed average total pay to around 3.5 million pounds ($4.9 million) from about 4.3 million pounds, according to PwC's analysis of the first 50 FTSE 100 companies to publish their 2021 annual remuneration reports. About one-third of the companies have reduced, waived or canceled chief executive officer bonuses for last year.
The drop in executive pay comes after the coronavirus pandemic left millions in the U.K. unemployed or on a government furlough program, as some businesses were forced to temporarily close to curb the spread of the virus. The benchmark FTSE 100 Index plunged in February and March of 2020, and remains below pre-pandemic levels.
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“It is clear from the pay outcomes we have seen to date in the FTSE 100 that companies have exercised restraint when it comes to both determining outcomes for the 2020 performance year and setting pay on a forward looking basis for 2021,” Phillippa O'Connor, reward and employment leader at PwC, said in a statement.
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