Stagecoach chief executive Brian Souter, who recently pocketed more than £100m when the company returned £700m to shareholders, is on his way to making another £1m.

Souter was yesterday granted deferred bonuses worth nearly £800,000 at last night's closing share price of 182.75p.

Souter was granted 141,526 deferred shares under the 2005 executive participation plan with a paper value of £260,000. He also got 294,129 "incentive units" under the firm's long-term incentive plan.

Stagecoach's LTIP units are notionally equivalent to the market value of one share and awards are made subject to certain performance criteria.

Awards to Souter under the EPP and LTIP are scheduled to vest in 2010. The LTIP awards are expected to be settled in cash.

Another beneficiary of awards granted yesterday was Martin Griffiths, the finance director. He got 70,677 deferred shares under the EPP, notionally worth more than £129,000, plus a 199,170 LTIP units worth nearly £365,000. These awards also vest in 2010.

Four other executives, including rail chief Ian Dobbs and Les Warneford, managing director of Stagecoach UK Bus, were granted deferred shares under the EPP plan. Dobbs got 42,710 and Warneford 39,501.

On Wednesday this week Perth-based Stagecoach posted underlying pre-tax profits of £162m, up from £117.1m in 2006, driven by a buoyant UK bus division.