Channel 4 points out that while in 2007 its chief executive, Andy Duncan, received £1.2m due to a one-off incentive-plan payout of £450,000, in 2008 his salary was £670,000 plus benefits of £13,000.
"Fourth-quarter profit will be pressured by one-off expenses: performance payouts and some $1 billion in legal provisioning relating to the Apple litigation," said Lee Sun-tae, an analyst at NH Investment & Securities.
It's not even the case that Darling is being motivated by his desperate need for money, because a one-off levy on the £6bn expected payout for the City this year is a drop in the ocean in relation to the deficits Britain is going to run for years to come.
In January, BT, which is widely expected to announce a cut in its dividend payout, said it would be hit by a one-off charge of 340.0 million pounds ($469.5 million) as a result of BT's inability to cut costs and streamline itself, particularly in Global Services.
One-off awards will increase by an average of 30%, while the rule limiting payouts to the first three injuries per incident will be scrapped.
Mr Murdoch still denies that this ever happened and repeated today that his only knowledge of the case pertained to approving a hefty payout to Gordon Taylor, a former football boss, for what he took to be a one-off affair.
Jenkins aims to cut the bank's cost base to 16.8 billion pounds in 2015, excluding one-off costs to achieve that of 2.7 billion over the next three years, and lift its dividend to achieve a 30percentt payout ratio.
Bankers have admitted that dividend payouts to investors could be hit if financial institutions use profits to absorb the cost of the one-off 50% tax rather than letting bonus pools take the burden instead.
There are fine one-off observations, too.
This was not just a one-off".
