DBS CEO Piyush Gupta’s total pay last year rises to $11.4 million

Piyush Gupta, chief executive officer of DBS Group Holdings Ltd., during a news conference in Singapore, on Monday, Feb. 13, 2023. DBS Group Holdings Ltd. has about a S$1.3 billion ($976 million) exposure to Adani Group, of which S$1 billion is from a cement firm acquisition financing and the remaining S$300 million is from other Adani firms, its Chief Executive Officer Piyush Gupta said at a briefing Monday. Photographer: Suhaimi Abdullah/Bloomberg

DBS Group Holdings Ltd. raised Chief Executive Officer Piyush Gupta’s total remuneration for 2022 by about 13% after its fourth-quarter profit topped estimates on lending gains.

Gupta received a cash bonus of about S$5.8 million ($4.3 million) and a salary remuneration of S$1.5 million that contributed to an overall compensation of S$15.4 million for 2022, according to the bank’s annual report released on Thursday. This is an increase from the S$13.6 million total pay package he got a year ago, according to a comparison with last year’s figures.

Singapore’s largest lender got a boost last year from rising global interest rates, and announced a special dividend. Still, stock market volatility led to a leaner period for dealmaking and fees from advising rich clients. DBS said in its report that an expanded current and savings account base allowed it to enjoy higher leverage to rising interest rates than in previous years.

In the report, Gupta said the higher rates, together with improvements to transform the bank, will enable DBS to sustain a return on equity of more than 15%, barring any unexpected shocks to the global economy. DBS’ ROE reached a record of 17% in the second half of last year.

“At the same time, the restored confidence in financial markets will lead to a significant recovery in our wealth management fee income, which was the major drag on our performance in 2022,” Gupta said.