Tweet
Mi know nuff top execs in Europe not mekking dem breed a salary deh! Realistically, how can Jamaica support this?
Those top salaries
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Publicly listed companies, last financial year offered very generous remuneration packages to senior corporate executives, with quite a few players receiving well over $20 million a year. And in some cases the firms paid out over a fifth of their profits to keep these top managers happy.
Of the companies reviewed by the Business Observer, Dehring, Bunting and Golding (DB&G) paid out the highest average compensation to senior executives during the last full financial year. In the case of the merchant bank, which year-end was March 31,three executive directors - Peter Bunting, Mark Golding and Gary Sinclair - shared a combined total of $101 million among themselves; an average of just under $34 million.
Following closely on the heels of DB&G is National Commercial Bank (NCB), whose two executive directors, managing director Patrick Hylton and his deputy, Dennis Cohen, shared just over $60 million.
Seprod only has one executive director, Byron Thompson, who has been overseeing the firms repositioning into manufacturing since the turn of the decade. The management remuneration totaled $23.5 million for the year that ended December 31, 2006.
Some firms are so keen on keeping members of their top hierarchy well compensated, that they dish out close to a third of net profit to a mere two or three senior managers.
For example, the gaming company run by Brian George, Supreme Ventures Limited, paid $46.4 million to its two executive directors last year, some 26 per cent of net profit, which was $179 million for the period under review, albeit, a marked reduction from the $54 million they shared in the previous year, which represented 166 per cent of net profit. George was the only executive director listed in the firm's annual report.
The reduction was as a result of renegotiations on agreements, according to the gaming company's vice president of corporate communications, Sonia Davidson.
A fifth of Mayberry Investments Limited's net profit, which was $229.9 million last year, was paid out to its five executive directors - Christopher Berry, Konrad Berry, Erwin Angus, Gary Peart and Sharon Harvey-Wilson.
The corporate executives received a total management remuneration package of $45.9 million in 2006, or an average of about $9 million.
There is no clear indication to suggest that management compensation package is strongly linked to performance, as in some cases the increases in executive pay far outpaces the growth in profit, while in other cases it is the opposite.
According to GraceKennedy chief financial controller Fae McIntosh, the conglomerate pays their senior executives a basic salary plus incentives, depending on how the group performed over the financial year.
"What you would have there is two components - the basic salary and the incentives," said McIntosh of the $108.4 million in management remuneration paid out by Grace last year. "The incentive is strictly performance."
According to McIntosh, this figure is shared among 11 senior executives, which would average out at a around $10 million per person. Grace's $1.8 billion in net profit at the end of their last financial year was marginally less than the period prior while the company's management remuneration package increased by 11 per cent, albeit, it was split among five persons.
Indeed, the cost to keep these executives on board includes
several benefits that do not go directly into their pocket. For
instance, Kingston Wharves' Grantley Stephenson assured the Business Observer that although he was the only executive director of the cargo handling company, he got less than the $18
million that the annual report for 2006 listed for management remuneration.
"It is worthy to note that the figure (includes) the company's contribution to pension, NIS etc", he told the Business Observer. "It's not actually what I receive."
Corporate Secretary at Scotiabank, David Noel, when questioned on how increases are decided said "Its a number of different variables, it is not just related to net profit but that would be a factor".
Scotia paid its two senior executives, CEO Bill Clarke and chief financial controller, Stacie-Ann Wright, a combined $37.7 million last year, a modest increase of eight per cent for one of the most profitable firms in Jamaica. How the remuneration package is split between the two is not known as companies are not specifically required to make this disclosure.
Pulse Investments is another firm which only had a modest increase in management remuneration relative to its net profit. While the model agency more than doubled its net profit to $266.1 million when compared to the previous year, management salaries only increased by 20 per cent to $14.4 million.
Pulse CEO, Kingsley Cooper, who said that the compensation package is shared between himself and an undisclosed director, told the Business Observer that this was due to a clause in the management contract which allows for a 20 per cent yearly increase in the senior executives' salaries.
"The amount was based on a management contract which allows for a 20 per cent increase," said Cooper. "But although our profit increased drastically over the period we are satisfied with the modest amount."
Rich packages for expatriates also appear to weigh heavily on listed companies and this is evident by looking at the remuneration packages for British-owned firms Red Stripe and Cable & Wireless.
Red Stripe, headed by Mark Mackenzie, whose net profit dropped by 36 per cent to $1.4 billion last year, paid out $96.9 million to four senior executives, an average of just over $24 million.
Cable & Wireless, who posted flat performance last year, paid two executive directors, Rodney Davis, and chief financial officer Mark Thompson, who was appointed to the board in May 2006, a total of $42.6 million, or an average of $21.3 million. Both managers left the firm during 2007.
Carreras had three executive directors, which include the cigarette distributor managing director, Michael Bernard, share $53 million for an average of $17.6 million each.
Life of Jamaica's management remuneration bill for the year ended December 31, 2006, was $65 million - an average remuneration of $13 milloin per person, although the life insurer's chief executive, Richard Byles is sure to be the recipient of the largest share.
Those top salaries
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Publicly listed companies, last financial year offered very generous remuneration packages to senior corporate executives, with quite a few players receiving well over $20 million a year. And in some cases the firms paid out over a fifth of their profits to keep these top managers happy.
Of the companies reviewed by the Business Observer, Dehring, Bunting and Golding (DB&G) paid out the highest average compensation to senior executives during the last full financial year. In the case of the merchant bank, which year-end was March 31,three executive directors - Peter Bunting, Mark Golding and Gary Sinclair - shared a combined total of $101 million among themselves; an average of just under $34 million.
Following closely on the heels of DB&G is National Commercial Bank (NCB), whose two executive directors, managing director Patrick Hylton and his deputy, Dennis Cohen, shared just over $60 million.
Seprod only has one executive director, Byron Thompson, who has been overseeing the firms repositioning into manufacturing since the turn of the decade. The management remuneration totaled $23.5 million for the year that ended December 31, 2006.
Some firms are so keen on keeping members of their top hierarchy well compensated, that they dish out close to a third of net profit to a mere two or three senior managers.
For example, the gaming company run by Brian George, Supreme Ventures Limited, paid $46.4 million to its two executive directors last year, some 26 per cent of net profit, which was $179 million for the period under review, albeit, a marked reduction from the $54 million they shared in the previous year, which represented 166 per cent of net profit. George was the only executive director listed in the firm's annual report.
The reduction was as a result of renegotiations on agreements, according to the gaming company's vice president of corporate communications, Sonia Davidson.
A fifth of Mayberry Investments Limited's net profit, which was $229.9 million last year, was paid out to its five executive directors - Christopher Berry, Konrad Berry, Erwin Angus, Gary Peart and Sharon Harvey-Wilson.
The corporate executives received a total management remuneration package of $45.9 million in 2006, or an average of about $9 million.
There is no clear indication to suggest that management compensation package is strongly linked to performance, as in some cases the increases in executive pay far outpaces the growth in profit, while in other cases it is the opposite.
According to GraceKennedy chief financial controller Fae McIntosh, the conglomerate pays their senior executives a basic salary plus incentives, depending on how the group performed over the financial year.
"What you would have there is two components - the basic salary and the incentives," said McIntosh of the $108.4 million in management remuneration paid out by Grace last year. "The incentive is strictly performance."
According to McIntosh, this figure is shared among 11 senior executives, which would average out at a around $10 million per person. Grace's $1.8 billion in net profit at the end of their last financial year was marginally less than the period prior while the company's management remuneration package increased by 11 per cent, albeit, it was split among five persons.
Indeed, the cost to keep these executives on board includes
several benefits that do not go directly into their pocket. For
instance, Kingston Wharves' Grantley Stephenson assured the Business Observer that although he was the only executive director of the cargo handling company, he got less than the $18
million that the annual report for 2006 listed for management remuneration.
"It is worthy to note that the figure (includes) the company's contribution to pension, NIS etc", he told the Business Observer. "It's not actually what I receive."
Corporate Secretary at Scotiabank, David Noel, when questioned on how increases are decided said "Its a number of different variables, it is not just related to net profit but that would be a factor".
Scotia paid its two senior executives, CEO Bill Clarke and chief financial controller, Stacie-Ann Wright, a combined $37.7 million last year, a modest increase of eight per cent for one of the most profitable firms in Jamaica. How the remuneration package is split between the two is not known as companies are not specifically required to make this disclosure.
Pulse Investments is another firm which only had a modest increase in management remuneration relative to its net profit. While the model agency more than doubled its net profit to $266.1 million when compared to the previous year, management salaries only increased by 20 per cent to $14.4 million.
Pulse CEO, Kingsley Cooper, who said that the compensation package is shared between himself and an undisclosed director, told the Business Observer that this was due to a clause in the management contract which allows for a 20 per cent yearly increase in the senior executives' salaries.
"The amount was based on a management contract which allows for a 20 per cent increase," said Cooper. "But although our profit increased drastically over the period we are satisfied with the modest amount."
Rich packages for expatriates also appear to weigh heavily on listed companies and this is evident by looking at the remuneration packages for British-owned firms Red Stripe and Cable & Wireless.
Red Stripe, headed by Mark Mackenzie, whose net profit dropped by 36 per cent to $1.4 billion last year, paid out $96.9 million to four senior executives, an average of just over $24 million.
Cable & Wireless, who posted flat performance last year, paid two executive directors, Rodney Davis, and chief financial officer Mark Thompson, who was appointed to the board in May 2006, a total of $42.6 million, or an average of $21.3 million. Both managers left the firm during 2007.
Carreras had three executive directors, which include the cigarette distributor managing director, Michael Bernard, share $53 million for an average of $17.6 million each.
Life of Jamaica's management remuneration bill for the year ended December 31, 2006, was $65 million - an average remuneration of $13 milloin per person, although the life insurer's chief executive, Richard Byles is sure to be the recipient of the largest share.
Comment