TWO top bosses at technology firm Promethean collected bonuses totalling more than £500,000 despite a stock market flotation that saw shares tumble in value.

Chief executive Jean-Yves Charlier and chief financial officer Neil Johnson were rewarded on top of their annual salaries following the firm’s initial public offering (IPO) in March last year.

The £400million deal, which saw Promethean go public, initially saw shares traded at 200p - but they are now selling for about 60p.

The interactive whiteboard firm also made ‘a handful’ of redundancies at its Blackburn HQ, in Lower Philips Road, Whitebirk, earlier this year following tough trading conditions.

Promethean’s annual report for 2010 reveals that Mr Charlier is paid £350,000 a year and Mr Johnson receives £185,000.

However, Mr Johnson was paid a one-off bonus of £160,000 following the ‘successful completion’ of the firm’s IPO and a further £121,000 performance bonus.

Mr Charlier received a performance bonus of £234,000. No other directors were paid bonuses on top of their salaries.

Despite netting founder Tony Cann at least £100million, the flotation made Promethean one of the worst performing IPOs in the UK last year.

Tony Hedley, of Blackburn-based stockbroker Hedley and Co, said: “The Promethean float has not gone well.

“The problem is that when a price goes down dramatically after the IPO, it generally stays down.”

Promethean said the bonus payments to Mr Charlier and Mr Johnson were approved by a remuneration committee and were for work in 2009 and ‘into and beyond the March 2010 flotation’.

It added: “Independent commentators have described the Promethean IPO as exemplary.

“Regardless of recent activity and share price, Promethean is a company in a very healthy position.”

Despite trouble with its share price, Promethean increased sales last year from £205.1million to £235.3million, with pre-tax profits of £17.2million.