Financial services group FirstRand has published its annual results and annual report for the full year ended June 2022, revealing the remuneration of its management team.
The group’s results showed a return to pre-Covid-19 levels and then some with net interest income of 67.86 billion rand for the year, up 5% from 64.5 billion rand a year earlier. Underlying profit was recorded 22% higher at 32.82 billion rand, with the group’s normalized net asset value increasing by 9%.
FirstRand CEO Alan Pullinger said the group’s performance reflected the quality of its operating businesses, FNB, RMB, WesBank and Aldermore.
“Disciplined execution of the strategy continues to increase shareholder value. Revenues have fully recovered and are well above 2019 peak levels, and economic profits have more than doubled.
“ROE at 20.6% remains within the target range. In addition, the group declared the highest annual dividend in its history of 342 cents per share, as well as a special dividend of 125 cents per share. This resulted in a total distribution to shareholders of 26.2 billion rand,” he said.
The group rewarded its management team for exceptional performance, with short-term bonus payments in some cases reaching almost 300% of guaranteed pay based on individual scorecards. STI growth was 26% year over year for the executive team.
As group CEO, Pullinger was the highest paid in the team, taking home a total salary of 48.29 million rand for the year, including the value of long-term incentives awarded in 2020 and 2021. received – was lower by 29.87 million rubles.
FNB CEO Jacques Sellier was the second highest paid, with a package of 41.61 million rand. This was almost 30 million rand including allotment LTI.
“Jacques has demonstrated highly effective leadership as FNB has delivered solid revenue and balance sheet growth while delivering excellent profitability,” FirstRand said.
“Linked to the group’s overall balance sheet strategy, the creation of the new retail business is aimed at low-risk customers. This resulted in a slight increase in advances compared to last year. However, the focus on core customers ensured that the transactional franchise performed well, underpinned by active customer acquisition, increased customer engagement and increased transaction volumes.”
FNB was the biggest profit generator for the group, accounting for 19.636 billion rand of total normalized profit.
The only executive to earn a higher salary than Pullinger and Sellars was Aldermore chief executive Stephen Cooper, who was paid in pounds.
The year under review was Cooper’s first full year in the role and, despite several operational challenges in the business, managed to implement key strategies to achieve the group’s goals, FirstRand said.
“These changes are starting to have a positive impact on the business, which is evident in the figures for the year under review.”
The single salary figure reflects the value of LTI received, not the total value awarded.
| Executive | Role | Total salary (LTI awarded) | One figure (endowed with LTI) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pullinger | General director of the group | 48,286,000 rubles | 29,870,000 rubles |
| M. Vilakazy | Group COO | 32,743,000 rubles | 24,289,000 rubles |
| X Kellan | Group CFO | 36,117,000 rubles | 24,357,000 rubles |
| J Sellers | CEO of FNB | 41,611,000 rubles | 29,950,000 rubles |
| J. Formby | CEO of RMB | 40,574,000 rubles | 30,474,000 rubles |
| S Cooper | Aldermore CEO | 49,413,000 INR* | 38,538,000 INR* |
*Rand equivalent on 15 September 2022 of £2.46m and £1.92m. A single number does not reflect the allocated LTI.
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