Burberry CEO renumeration increases 55% amid return to profit

Burberry CEO Joshua Schulman has seen a 55% increase in his annual compensation as the company returns to profit growth, latest financial filings have revealed.

Schulman received remuneration of £4.02 million for the 2025/26 financial year, which included a £1.2 million base salary, a £2.34 million bonus and £369,000 in allowances and benefits.

The annual bonus payout, which is capped at 200% of salary, was based 75% on adjusted operating profit and 25% on performance against strategic objectives. With Burberry returning to profit growth over the financial year, the company shared that it had paid out the operating profit element in full. The 25% performance element of the bonus was paid out at 90% of the maximum possible, reflecting the "strong performance and delivery of the Burberry Forward strategy", according to Burberry's Remuneration Committee.

This marks a 55% increase in salary compared to the previous financial year, when he earned £2.6 million after nine months in the CEO role. Schulman joined Burberry in July 2024.

Burberry said that Schulman's salary currently sits below the median of its luxury peers, which include Brunello Cucinelli, Canada Goose, Capri Holdings and others, and is currently set at £8.24 million.

For next year, Burberry is further amending the pay structure for the CEO, including a 3% increase in base salary, which will take his salary to £1.24 million.

Burberry's Remuneration Committee also proposed a change to the Performance Share Plan (PSP), which is fully tied to company performance targets. Schulman will be eligible to receive PSP compensation worth up to 300% of his salary. This marks the first ongoing increase in variable pay opportunity for Burberry since 2016/17, according to the report, and means that Schulman is the first CEO in a decade whose remuneration is even more closely tied to company targets.

According to Burberry, the change in policy is designed to "incentivise the senior leadership team to deliver on this strategy and achieve our stretching long-term ambitions, leading to increased brand value and the delivery of shareholder value".

It added that Schulman is required to invest 50% of his net bonus into company shares to acquire Burberry shares until he has "satisfied the shareholding guideline".

According to the annual report, since Schulman's appointment as CEO, the brand has seen increased brand relevance and an improved product offer, resulting in a return to comparable sales growth and significant improvements in group adjusted operating profit of £160 million.

"Under Josh’s leadership, we are moving forward with confidence that we are well positioned for sustainable long-term value creation and with clarity on our opportunities for further growth," the committee reported.

The committee's proposition is to raise the CEO salary to £6.30 million in future.

Comparatively, Schulman's pay is lower than the £4.72 million payout received by Lord Simon Wolfson, CEO of retail giant NEXT, for the financial year to January 2025, after the retailer hit the £1 billion profit mark for the first time.

CEO pay also rose at supermarket giant Tesco, where boss Ken Murphy bagged an extra £1 million in salary and bonuses after seeing his total annual pay package swell to £10.8 million this year. Its latest annual report showed Murphy picked up a £3.4 million annual bonus and £5.7 million in share awards for 2025/26, after the firm achieved £3.15 billion in earnings for the year to 28 February, up from £3.13 billion the previous year.

Burberry's full-year results showed that the brand had swung back to profit after its bet on Gen Z shoppers and move to revive its British heritage paid off, but it flagged concerns over the possible impact of an Iran war on consumer spending.

The firm reported pre-tax profits of £49 million for the year to 28 March, against losses of £66 million the previous year, with results boosted by a better-than-expected 5% jump in same-store sales over its final quarter and an overhaul to cut £100 million in annual costs. Revenues for the year were broadly flat at £2.42 billion.

But it said it was “mindful of the uncertain geopolitical and macro-economic environment and its potential impact on consumer confidence”.