The boss of state-backed Lloyds Banking Group, owner of Bank of Scotland, has won a long-term bonus worth more than £2 million after a strong share price performance qualified him for the windfall.
Antonio Horta-Osorio will receive three million shares in the company after the stock closed above 73.6p for 30 days in a row.
Their price at the end of trading was 75p, meaning the bonus has a paper value of more than £2.2m, though Mr Horta-Osorio will not be able to sell the shares until 2018.
A Lloyds spokesman said: "Antonio's bonus reflects the significant turnaround at Lloyds under his leadership - something that has enabled taxpayers to start getting back their money at a profit."
The incentive scheme has fuelled anger among unions. The chief executive has qualified for it two weeks after Lloyds announced plans to stop annual pension rises for the 35,000 employees on its final salary pension scheme.
The stock was close to falling below target this month, closing at 73.9p on November 7, but has since climbed.
Lloyds Banking Group, rescued by the taxpayer during the financial crisis after swallowing up Halifax and Bank of Scotland owner HBOS, remains 33% state-owned.
It notched up losses of £440m in the third quarter of this year and its bill for the payment protection insurance mis-selling scandal soared to more than £8 billion, but underlying profits nearly doubled to £1.52bn for the period.
Shares have been buoyant in the past year. They recently nudged above 80p and are worth twice as much as they were a year ago.
The bonus was devised in March when shares were worth 50p. The 73.6p level represents the average price paid by the taxpayer when the bank was rescued.
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