GlaxoSmithKline’s chief executive, Emma Walmsley, was handed a £1m pay rise last year, taking her total pay and bonus package to nearly £6m.

Walmsley is thought to be the highest-paid female chief executive of a FTSE 100 company at present. Her total remuneration package rose to £5.89m in 2018, from £4.88m the previous year, Britain’s biggest drugmaker revealed in its annual report.

Her fixed pay – salary, benefits and pension – rose slightly to £1.47m, while Walmsley’s performance-related pay – annual bonus and shares awarded under the company’s long-term incentive scheme – increased to £4.42m from £3.45m.

Late last year, GSK announced plans for a breakup with the spin-off of its consumer healthcare business, in a £10bn joint venture with US rival Pfizer.

It was one of several deals overseen by Walmsley in 2018, when the company’s profits before tax rose 36% to £4.8bn. It was her first full year at the helm, after taking over from Sir Andrew Witty in April 2017, having previously run the consumer healthcare division.

Walmsley’s annual pay packet outstripped that of Alison Cooper, the chief executive of Imperial Brands, who was paid £3.9m last year, down from £4.3m in 2017. Cooper received £5.5m in 2016 and was in line for a pay rise of up to £8.5m a year, but investors blocked the tobacco company’s plan.