ITV chairman Archie Norman has defended the £8.4m remuneration package received by Adam Crozier after it was scrutinised by shareholders at the broadcaster’s AGM.

With the chief executive present, Norman responded to questions from a handful of private shareholders about the size and nature of the financial package. Norman said the headline figure published in ITV’s annual report was not one lump sum, but a “coming together of a number of schemes” that “matured over a period of time”.

These include long-term incentives, salary, bonus and shares.

Crozier’s remuneration appeared to split the room. When Norman argued that it was “not unreasonable for management to receive an incentive” after adding £5.1bn of value over four years, he was met with a round of applause.

Norman said: “The management team started here when the share price was lower than today and the company was in some difficulty. Over that period of time, we’ve added £5.1bn value to the business, and as a result the shareholders have benefited.”

He added that having an “outstanding management team, properly paid and committed to the company” was vital to the success of the business. Crozier has overseen a significant turnaround, culminating with impressive 2013 results revealed in February. ITV posted revenue growth for the fourth year in a row, up 9% to £2.4bn, while in-house producer ITV Studios’ revenues jumped 20%.

ITV published a 2014 first-quarter update this week that revealed year-on-year turnover growth of 1% to £672m, despite a revenue dip of 4% posted by ITV Studios.

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