Reckitt Benckiser cuts CEO's pay by 39 percent after safety scandal

LONDON (Reuters) - British consumer goods maker Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.L) cut Chief Executive Rakesh Kapoor's 2016 pay by 39 percent, as it seeks to shore up investor confidence following a safety scandal in South Korea that hurt its performance.

The maker of Durex condoms and Scholl footcare products said Kapoor, Britain's third highest-paid CEO in 2015, would not receive an annual bonus for 2016, and that the share awards for his long-term incentive plan would be reduced by half.

As a result, Kapoor will be paid 14 million pounds ($17 million) for 2016, down from 23 million pounds in 2015.

The company also said it would strip out the impact of earnings growth from the impending takeover of Mead Johnson (MJN.N) from calculations for Kapoor's incentive plan for 2017.

Reckitt Benckiser has been grappling with the fallout from a scandal related to a product safety issue that caused dozens of deadly lung injuries in South Korea. The South Korean government said in 2015 that 92 people were believed to have died from causes related to humidifier sterilizer products sold by several companies including Reckitt.

In January, the former head of Reckitt's business there was sentenced to seven years in prison.

($1 = 0.8027 pounds)

(Reporting by Martinne Geller; Editing by Susan Fenton)