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Costain’s Helen Willis is one of the better-paid chief financial officers in the wider construction industry, not least because of the incentives that she has accrued.
She joined the infrastructure group in November 2020 after a stint as the finance chief at banknote producer De La Rue. Willis may well have the Midas touch, at least judging by the remarkable comeback staged by the Costain share price in the intervening period, so shareholders certainly wouldn’t begrudge any performance-linked compensation headed her way.
On April 10 2026, she was awarded 97,615 nil-priced options under the group’s 2023 share deferral plan, a grant which usually precipitates a sale of securities to meet any tax obligations. A couple of days later, Willis sold 253,793 shares via an intermediary at just under 197p each, which represents a 12 per cent discount to the FactSet consensus broker target rate.
It was noted that her resultant holding of 1,246,375 shares represented 471 per cent of salary, against the shareholding guideline of 200 per cent. This holding would fall under the general heading of “defensive” given the group’s activities and its contractual base.
In March, Costain chief executive Alex Vaughan made the point that its order book was underpinned from a regulatory angle, providing a degree of security amid the ongoing geopolitical ructions. Doubtless, Willis would concur.
