Britain's top CEOs get 7.4 percent pay rise: study

LONDON (Reuters) - The heads of Britain's top companies have received inflation-busting pay rises, helping offset the first fall in bonuses for 10 years and as the country struggles in the longest recession on record.

Pay for chief executives of companies in Britain's FTSE 100 index .FTSE rose twice as fast as shop floor workers, increasing on average by 7.4 percent, according to a report published on Monday.

Factoring in the first reduction in bonus payments for a decade, pay for chief executives fell by 1.5 percent overall. Britain's gross domestic product posted an annual fall of more than 5 percent in the third quarter.

Bonuses for chief executives fell by 29 percent on average, but still remain above 500,000 pounds ($832,500), according to the Directors' Pay Report 2009/10 by Incomes Data Services, a pay research group owned by Thomson Reuters.

(Reporting by Ben Deighton; Editing by David Cowell)

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