ASOS director bonuses now focus on profit, not diversity

Profits before diversity is now a key target for ASOS bosses, a report claims. So the executive team at the UK-based digital fashion retailer will be no longer be required to hit ESG [environmental, social and governance] targets to ensure their annual bonuses.

With a weak performance in recent periods, the struggling retailer said it was changing the criteria for its executive bonus scheme, making it primarily dependent on profits, reported The Telegraph newspaper.

Executives will also have to make progress on improving ASOS’s share price and profit margins to secure their payouts. 

The company said it had made the decision to remove ethical targets from annual bonuses because the turnaround was “what management will be focused on delivering for the year ahead”. 

That makes commercial sense but it doesn’t mean ESG is being dumped. Instead, it said it has opted to include a diversity measure in its longer-term incentive scheme.

Previously, its scheme had included a requirement to hand female and ethnic minorities more leadership roles. Bosses didn’t receive their annual bonus last year because ASOS didn’t manage to hit all its targets. 

Under the retailer’s wider diversity drive, it says it aims to have 50% female and 15% ethnic minority representation at every leadership level by 2030. 

Chief executive José Antonio Ramos Calamonte recently said the next year will be “about taking the necessary action” to return ASOS to growth.