CEO salaries: At Singapore’s top companies, whose pay went up and whose saw a drop?

SINGAPORE – From telcos to banks, compensation packages for chief executives in Singapore can vary, based on sector performance, one-off gains or share awards.

Here is what top companies across industries paid their CEOs, with differences in base salary, bonuses and one-off awards.

1. Singtel CEO Yuen Kuan Moon

For the financial year ended March 31, Mr Yuen earned $8.2 million, a 16.8 per cent increase from more than $7 million in FY2024.

His package included an estimated fixed salary of $1.3 million and benefits of $77,800. He also received a cash bonus and restricted share award of about $2.2 million each, and a performance share award of around $2.4 million.

For Singtel’s FY2025 results, underlying net profit rose 9 per cent to $2.47 billion, while net profit jumped more than five times to $4.02 billion, boosted by a one-off $1.3 billion gain from the partial divestment of its Comcentre HQ.

2. Former SingPost CEO Vincent Phang

Mr Phang, who was dismissed over the mishandling of a whistle-blower complaint, had his compensation halved to $616,400 for the financial year ended March 31.

Singapore Post did not indicate if Mr Phang’s salary was prorated. He received about $1.2 million in the previous financial year.

His payout comprised $570,600 in fixed salary, $10,500 in provident fund contributions and $35,200 in benefits.

The benefits generally include medical and flexible allowances, as well as other perks such as car allowance and long service awards.

Despite booking a net profit of $245.1 million, boosted by the one-off divestment of its Australia business, the group saw its underlying net profit fall 40.3 per cent to $24.8 million, with a net loss of some $500,000 in the second half.

3. Former DBS CEO Piyush Gupta

Mr Gupta received a total remuneration of $17.6 million for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2024, a 56.5 per cent increase from $11.2 million in 2023.

His base salary of $1.5 million for 2024 remained unchanged from the previous year.

But his cash bonus of $6.6 million and deferred remuneration of about $9.4 million were higher than a year ago.

The bank’s total shareholder returns for 2024 amounted to 51 per cent, which was the “highest in DBS’ history outside crisis-rebound years”.

This comprised share price gains of 44 per cent and a dividend return of 7 per cent.

Fourth-quarter net profit rose 11 per cent to $2.52 billion.

Meanwhile, full-year earnings jumped 12 per cent to a new high of $11.29 billion.

4. SIA CEO Goh Choon Phong

Mr Goh received $7 million in remuneration for Singapore Airlines’ financial year ended March 31, a 13.5 per cent drop from the $8.1 million package he received in the previous financial year.

This comprised a $1.5 million salary and $3.1 million in bonuses – both an increase from the previous financial year’s $1.4 million salary and $2.2 million in bonuses.

However, the value of the shares he received was lower at $2.3 million, compared with $4.3 million in the year-ago period.

The decline in Mr Goh’s compensation came even as the company reported a record net profit of $2.8 billion, on the back of $19.6 billion in revenue for the year.

5. OCBC CEO Helen Wong

Ms Wong received $12.8 million in total remuneration for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2024, up 5.8 per cent from $12.1 million in the previous year.

This comprised a base salary of $1.2 million, a bonus of $6.8 million, deferred shares amounting to $4.5 million, as well as payment in the form of other benefits worth $332,207.

In February, OCBC Bank reported a net profit of $1.7 billion for the fourth quarter ended December, up 4 per cent from $1.6 billion in the previous corresponding period. This brought its full-year earnings to a record $7.6 billion, an increase of 8 per cent from the prior year.

6. UOB CEO Wee Ee Cheong

Mr Wee’s salary for 2024 dipped 5.5 per cent, despite the bank’s net profit for the year rising 5.8 per cent to a record $6.05 billion.

Mr Wee, who is also deputy chairman of the bank, was paid $15.05 million, which comprised a salary of $1.44 million and a bonus of $13.56 million.

Other benefits in kind, including transport and event-related perks, amounted to $46,944.

His annual package was down 5.5 per cent from the $15.9 million he was paid in 2023.

His 2024 salary was 2 per cent higher than the year before, but his bonus fell 7.7 per cent from the $14.69 million in 2023.

In UOB’s annual report, Mr Wee said the bank’s acquisition of Citigroup’s consumer banking businesses in South-east Asia has “supercharged” its retail customer base to 8.4 million across Asean, accelerating the lender’s regional growth by five years.

7. Sheng Siong CEO Lim Hock Chee

Mr Lim received $7.06 million in total compensation for FY2024, an increase of 20.6 per cent from $5.86 million in the previous year.

This comprised a base salary of $373,000, a variable bonus of $6.66 million, director’s fees of $20,000 and benefits in kind amounting to $16,000.

This was slightly higher than the prior year, when he received a base salary of $374,000, a variable bonus of $5.45 million, director’s fees of $20,000 and benefits in kind amounting to $16,000, totalling $5.81 million.

In February, the supermarket operator reported a 1 per cent lower year-on-year net profit of $67.6 million for the second half ended December, as increases in finance and administrative expenses outstripped the rise in revenue.

8. SGX CEO Loh Boon Chye

Mr Loh had a total gross remuneration of $7.57 million in FY2024, almost unchanged from the previous year.

His pay package included $3.15 million in long-term incentives, such as performance shares and other incentives aligned with the company’s long-term results.

Mr Loh’s fixed pay stood at $1.21 million, and he also received a cash bonus of $3.15 million and benefits in kind of $57,256.

His latest pay award comes on the back of the Singapore Exchange’s 3.1 per cent year-on-year rise in revenue to $1.23 billion in FY2024, driven by the bourse operator’s fixed income, currencies and commodities derivatives business.

Net profit rose 4.7 per cent to $597.9 million, yielding total dividends of 34.5 cents per share, up from 32 cents per share the previous year.

THE BUSINESS TIMES