“Ill advised” is how the Institute of Directors described the decision by Rolls-Royce to hand chief executive Warren East a £900,000 bonus after profits nearly halved with little sign that they will improve much this year.

I think we can file that under the heading “classic British understatement”.

Oliver Parry, the head of corporate governance for the organisation, further told Bloomberg: “Bonuses need to be linked to performance and at Rolls-Royce it’s been a difficult 12 months. The idea that the CEO is receiving a bonus after two profit warnings doesn’t sit well with investors.”

No kidding.

But wait, Rolls-Royce had something to say. It “scaled back” bonuses and Mr East was awarded just 55 per cent (just 55 per cent) of the maximum possible pay out because the company still beat “key profits and cash targets”. So that's all right then.

I wonder if I could persuade my editors to offer me a bonus for writing, I dunno, 300 words a day, and then pay me half of it if I just write 150 when I’m feeling a bit tired.

I jest, but you get the point. If the target is relatively easy, and you’re willing to pay gazillions even when a company is doing badly, you shouldn’t be all that surprised that people get cross and start raising questions about the targets and the methods used to calculate bonuses.

Even if it is true that Rolls’ problems weren’t created by Mr East, who was brought in to fix them, the payment of a bonus after a bad year is still tone deaf. Pay him when he’s done the job and they’re history. It’s not as if Mr East is going hungry when it comes to his salary.

The company has pointed out that it is being nicer to its employees under Mr East, involving them more as Prime Minister May wanted it to. It is also freezing the pay of senior managers, and doing more besides.

But that is only what a good company should be doing. It doesn’t change the wrongheadedness of the bonus payment.

Mr East, whom I have met, is an skillful, effective and intelligent executive. It’s just a shame he's not bright enough to see how bad this looks.

Business news: In pictures Show all 13 1 /13 Business news: In pictures Business news: In pictures Flybe collapses Airline Flybe has collapsed. All future flights on the Exeter-based airline have been cancelled – leaving more than 2,300 staff facing an uncertain future, and wrecking the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of passengers. The chief executive, Mark Anderson, said: “Europe’s largest independent regional airline has been unable to overcome significant funding challenges to its business. AFP via Getty Business news: In pictures Future product placement will be 'tailored to individual viewers' Marketing executives say that product placement in films and televison shows on streaming services such as Netflix may be tailored to individuals in future. For instance, if data shows that a viewer is a fan of pepsi, a billboard in the background of a shot would host an advert for pepsi, while for a viewer known to have different tastes it could be for Coca-Cola Paramount Business news: In pictures Corbyn wishes Amazon a happy birthday In a card sent to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on the company's 25th birthday, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn writes: "You owe the British people millions in taxes that pay for the public services that we all rely on. Please pay your fair share" Business news: In pictures No deal, no tariffs The government has announced that it would slash almost all tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Notable exceptions include cars and meat, which will see tariffs in place to protect British farmers Getty Business news: In pictures Fingerprint payment NatWest is trialling a new bank card that will allow people to touch their hand to the card when paying rather than typing in a PIN number. The card will work by recognising the user's fingerprint NatWest/PA Wire Business news: In pictures Mahabis bust High-end slipper retailer Mahabis has gone into administration. 2 Jan 2019 Mahabis Business news: In pictures Costa Cola Coca-Cola has paid £3.9bn for Costa Coffee. A cafe chain is a new venture for the global soft drinks giant PA Business news: In pictures RIP Payday Loans A funeral procession for payday loans was held in London on September 2. The future of pay day lenders is in doubt after Wonga, Britain's biggest, went into administration on August 30 PA Business news: In pictures Musk irks investors and directors Elon Musk has concluded that Tesla will remain public. Investors and company directors were angry at Musk for tweeting unexpectedly that he was considering taking Tesla private and share prices had taken a tumble in the following weeks Getty Business news: In pictures Jaguar warning Iconic British car maker Jaguar Land Rover warned on July 5, 2018 that a "bad" Brexit deal could jeopardise planned investment of more than $100 billion, upping corporate pressure as the government heads into crucial talks AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures Spotif-IPO Spotify traded publically for the first time on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. However, the company isn't issuing shares, but rather, shares held by Spotify's private investors will be sold AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures French blue passports The deadline to award a contract to make blue British passports after Brexit has been extended by two weeks following a request by bidder De La Rue. The move comes after anger at the announcement British passports would be produced by Franco-Dutch firm Gemalto when De La Rue’s contract ends in July. The British firm said Gemalto was chosen only because it undercut the competition, but the UK company also admitted that it was not the cheapest choice in the tendering process. Business news: In pictures Beast from the east economic impact The Beast from the East wiped £4m off of Flybe’s revenues due to flight cancellations, airport closures and delays, according to the budget airline’s estimates. Flybe said it cancelled 994 flights in the three months to 31 March, compared to 372 in the same period last year.

It is welcome that the IoD, which is an influential group, and part of the business community, can raise the issue – albeit through the use of rather more diplomatic language than you’d usually expect from me.

And, to be fair, this isn’t the first time that the IoD has criticised excessive CEO pay and an across-the-board rise without any corresponding evidence of improvements in economic or business performance to justify it.