CEOs paid highest as big Pakistan banks amass profits

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CEOs paid highest as big Pakistan banks amass profits

United Bank's president and CEO Wajahat Husain topped the list with total remuneration of Rs127.3 million in 2015.

By Afzal Khan

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Published: Thu 3 Mar 2016, 11:00 PM

Last updated: Fri 4 Mar 2016, 8:01 AM

Islamabad: Chief executives of five major banks of Pakistan are among the highest paid as banking sector continued to post huge profits during 2015 amid massive borrowing with secure rate of interest by the public sector. 
These banks include United Bank Ltd (UBL), MCB Bank Ltd, National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), Habib Bank Ltd (HBL) and Allied Bank Ltd (ABL). Together these banks collectively post record profit of Rs130 billion.
United Bank's president and CEO Wajahat Husain topped the list with total remuneration of Rs127.3 million in 2015. A year-on-year comparison of the UBL CEO's total remuneration is not possible because the figure for 2014 (Rs246.5 million) included Rs100.7 million paid as severance cost to its former CEO on the cessation of his employment.
MCB Bank's CEO Imran Maqbool was the second-highest paid at Rs84.7 million, up 14.9 per cent from a year ago. However, MCB's shares shed as much as 29 per cent over the same 12-month period.
Total remuneration of the NBP president increased 51 per cent in 2015 despite the NBP shares dropped 22 per cent over the same 12-month period. According to the bank's annual securities filing, NBP president Syed Ahmed Iqbal Ashraf received total remuneration of Rs71.1 million last year, which was Rs23.9 million higher than the comparable figure for 2014.
Meanwhile, the share price of NBP at the end of 2015 clocked up at Rs54.04, down 22.2 per cent from the beginning of the year when it sold at Rs69.46. Almost one-third of Ashraf's total remuneration in 2015 was in the form of bonus. His bonus for 2015 clocked up at Rs23.3 million, which was 9.4 times higher on a year-on-year basis.
Although the share value of NBP declined by more than one-fourth over the year, the unconsolidated profit of the bank surged 27.9 per cent to Rs19.2 billion for 2015. In percentage terms, NBP posted the highest year-on-year expansion in the net profit among the five largest commercial banks, also known as Big Five. 
Another bank CEO who received a major raise last year in his total remuneration was Nauman Dar of HBL. His total remuneration jumped 41.3 per cent in 2015 to reach Rs75.1 million. Meanwhile, the share price of HBL dropped 7.4 per cent to reach Rs200.12 on December 31.
HBL is the largest banking entity in Pakistan in terms of both profitability and branch network. Its net profit went up 14 per cent last year to reach Rs35.4 billion, which was Rs9.7 billion higher than its closest competitor.
ABL's CEO Tariq Mahmood received total remuneration of Rs46.3 million in 2015, up seven per cent from a year ago. His total remuneration for 2015 was the lowest among his peers at the other four banks.
The share price of ABL declined more than 17 per ent last year while its net profit amounted to Rs15.1 billion, up only 0.7 per cent from a year ago. Yet he received a bonus of Rs19 million, which is 41 per cent of Mahmood's total annual remuneration for 2015.
- business@khaleejtimes.com


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