Sept. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Salary increases for executive directors at companies listed on the U.K.'s FTSE 350 Index have declined as remunerations have been hurt by an economic slowdown, a study by Deloitte & Touche LLP found.

In the year ended June 30, the median increase for an executive of a FTSE 350 company was 6.2 percent, compared with 7 percent a year earlier, Deloitte said. The number of board members that aren't entitled to receive bonuses rose, the consulting firm said in the report.

``Executive salary increases during 2007 were still around 2 percent higher than increases in RPI and average earnings but we are starting to see the impact of a tougher economic climate,'' Carol Arrowsmith, a partner at Deloitte, said in the report. RPI stands for retail prices index.

The chief executives of one in three companies listed in the FTSE 100 Index and one in five FTSE 250 Index members had higher annual and long-term incentive options than other board members, according to the study.

A typical salary of a chief executive of a top 30 company in the FTSE 100 Index was ``well over'' 1 million pounds ($1.8 million), compared with 750,000 pounds for chief executives of the remaining index members, the report said.

The study was based on information from the latest report and accounts of companies in the FTSE 350 as of June 30, 2008, excluding 43 investment trusts. The data was taken from annual reports and accounts published before this date, which include companies with financial year ends up to and including Feb. 28, 2008. The analysis of long-term plans also includes information from shareholder communication on new plans put forward for approval at annual general meetings until early July 2008. A total of 307 companies were included in the analysis.

To contact the reporter on this story: Lenka Ponikelska in London lponikelska1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: September 7, 2008 20:09 EDT