LONDON Stock Exchange boss Clara Furse made nearly £1m in pay last year.

Ms Furse, the exchange's first woman chief executive, received a cash and bonus payment of £795,000 for 2001/2 according to the group's annual report.

In addition she was awarded 40,793 shares which can be cashed in over the next two years. At yesterday's share price of 430p they would be worth £175,410. Together with Ms Furse's pension contribution of £26,000, this brings her total award for the year to just under £1m.

The payment comes after a year during which Ms Furse lost the battle for London derivatives exchange Liffe to Paris-based Euronext.

Last month, the LSE reported a jump in profits and higher margins.

A spokesman for the LSE said executive pay was based on performance, not doing deals.