Denise Coates, co-chief executive of online betting giant Bet365, pocketed annual pay totalling £260 million (US$311 million), the company and media said on Friday, placing her among Britain's top paid bosses.

Soaring executive pay is under the spotlight as millions of Britons buckle under the weight of decades-high inflation that has sparked a cost-of-living crisis and widespread strikes.

Coates regularly features at the top of lists of Britain's top earners. Her total pay package peaked at £421 million in 2020.

She was paid a basic salary of £213 million in the year to March 2022, down 15 percent from £250 million the prior year, the privately-run company revealed in an annual report.

The 55-year-old also earned at least £50 million in shareholder dividends thanks to her controlling stake in the group, reports said.

Director remuneration was curbed last year to offset expansion, with the number of staff climbing more than 10 percent to almost 6,100.

Coates founded Bet365 in the early 2000s before turning it into a global powerhouse of the online gaming world.

Bet365 also revealed on Friday that annual profits slumped after taking a loss from its ownership of Stoke City football club.

The company is based in the central English city of Stoke, famous for the pottery industry.

Group pre-tax profit tumbled to £49.8 million from £469 million a year earlier.

Revenue advanced two percent to £2.9 billion.

Bosses of Britain's top listed companies earned more in the first three working days of 2023 than average staff will all year, a study from the High Pay Centre think-tank showed on Thursday. (AFP)