Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre’s pay and pension grossed £2.5m last year, DMGT report reveals

Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre was paid more than £1.8 million last year according to the annual report of the newspaper’s parent company Daily Mail and General Trust.

With his pension, which he already takes, Dacre grossed some £2.5m last year.

The 65-year-old newspaper man agreed a new rolling 12-month contract in September with a basic salary of £1,311,975 along with a salary “supplement” of £500,000. He also receives a company car and car allowance along with fuel benefit and family medical insurance.

The company car has a taxable value of £15,000 while his car allowance is worth a further £10,000. The fuel allowance costs the company a further £6,500 while the medical insurance is worth £3,000.

That was topped up with a £500,000 “supplement” for each full year he completes after his 60th birthday. The company said it considered including Dacre on a bonus scheme linked to a financial target. However it said this “would be inconsistent with the objective of maintaining editorial independence”.

In addition to his pay, Dacre has also been drawing a pension of £652,000 from the company since 14 November, 2008.

The annual report also said that Dacre has been on a one-year rolling contract since 13 July 2008. If the company wishes to terminate this agreement, the annual report said he is “entitled to compensation equal to basic salary, benefits, pension entitlement and as appropriate, a pro-rated bonus for the notice period”.

Viscount Rothermere, chairman of Daily Mail General Trust praised Dacre’s work in the company’s annual report.

He said: “Content is the lifeblood of our business. The market leading Mail titles produce news, features and analysis that their audiences depend on. Our editorial team, led by editor-in-chief and DMGT executive director Paul Dacre has played a pivotal role in continuing to protect vital press freedoms within the UK’s evolving framework for independent press regulation.

“Mail Online is the world’s most visited English language newspaper website, while Mail Plus has created a subscription model for tablet users."

Rothermere revealed that Dacre has a contractual pay increase of either the retail price index or five percent, depending on which is greater.

According to the annual report, the 10,205 people working for DMGT earned on average £53,268. This figure increased by almost nine percent on 2012 following the disposal of the company’s local newspaper division to Local World. This reduced the company’s headcount by more than 1,900 people.

The annual report revealed that Rothermere (pictured above) was paid £2.3 million.

Dacre is the longest serving editor on Fleet Street having edited the Daily Mail since 1992. He has been editor-in-chief of Associated Newspapers (which includes Metro and the Mail on Sunday) since 1996. He is also the UK's highest paid national newspaper editor.

The annual report notes that total revenue form DMGT in 2013 was £1.8 billion, down from almost £2 billion in 2012. However the company’s operating profit remained stable at £300 million.

The company revealed that the digital share of revenue increased from 35 percent of turnover in 2012 to 42 percent last year.

The company’s DMG Media division – which includes its newspaper portfolio as well as websites jobsite, jobrapido and wowcher – produced revenues of £793 million returning an operating profit of £80 million, an increase of £2 million on 2012.

However, despite the positive revenue figures the company has a £207.7 million deficit in its defined benefit pension scheme.

The annual report also revealed that the company’s lease on their Derry Street headquarters expires on Christmas Day 2022.

Click here to read the full annual report.