Pay for chief executives on AIM rose by only 0.2 per cent in the last year, compared with a national average of 1.3 per cent. This figure is compared to the figure of 2.6 per cent seen the previous year.

The report, compiled by Growth Company Investor in association with accountancy firm Crowe Clark Whitehill, recorded a median salary of £202,000 for chief executives and £149,839 for finance directors.

Directors’ Pay on AIM 2014 finds a ‘widening gap’ between pay and profitable and loss-making companies. The 441 businesses on the junior exchange which are profitable pay a median of £249,044, while those 601 in a loss-making position are rewarding CEOs with a salary of £178,921.

The highest paid CEO, FD and total board continues to be Gulf Keystone Petroleum, with other highly-paid boards found at ASOS, London Mining and MP Evans.

More on previous Directors’ Pay on AIM reports:

• Number of seven-figure AIM salaries reaches pre-crash level
• CEO pay on AIM hits all-time high
• No pay rise for most AIM CEOs

Matthew Stallabrass, partner at Crowe Clark Whitehill, believes that the gap in pay between performing and under-performing firms indicates that remuneration committees are linking pay and financial performance.

‘But on the other hand, bonuses as a share of total board pay fell from 6.5 per cent to 6 per cent. This indicates that pay increases are resulting from increases in basic salary as opposed to more generous bonus schemes,’ he adds.

‘The balance between basic salary and performance-related bonuses is important in demonstrating alignment of interests between the directors and the shareholders. This point might be something for remuneration committees to focus on when deciding executive pay packages.’

Further statistics from the report, which has been published since 2004, finds that the pay of a typical AIM board now stands at £464,044, down from the £484,545 noted in last year’s study.

There has also been a marked decline in the number of AIM CEOs taking home a wage of over £1 million, down from 24 to 16.

Our annual report, Directors’ Pay on AIM, contains pay details for 1,000 AIM companies as well as analysis by company turnover and profitability, market capitalisation and sector. The term CEO is used when referring to the highest-paid director on the board.