Nedbank paid its top execs over R200 million – here’s how much they each banked

Nedbank published its annual report for 2022 in the second half of March 2023, showing how much its executives were paid – including CEO Mike Brown.

The bank’s financial results for the year ended December 2022 showed strong growth in headline earnings, which increased by 20% for the year to R14 billion.

Growth in earnings was driven by strong double-digit revenue growth, a slightly higher credit loss ratio and a well-managed expense base, it said.

Return on equity (ROE) increased to 14%, above the prior period of 12.5%, assisted by the group’s improved return on assets which increased from 0.98% to 1.14%.

On the back of strong earnings, growth and capital and liquidity positions, the group declared a final dividend of 866 cents per share, up by 14% (December 2021: 758 cents per share), bringing the total dividend for 2022 to 1 649 cents per share, up 38%, both at record levels for the group.

Brown said that the excellent progress in 2022 was enabled by strategic value drivers of growth, productivity, and risk and capital management.

Given Nedbank’s strong 2022 performance, it has set revised medium-term (2025) and long-term targets, he added.

“In 2025, we aim to achieve an ROE of 17% (around COE plus 2%) and a cost-to-income ratio of 52%.

“Over the longer term, we aim to improve these to above 18% (around COE plus 3%) and below 50%, respectively. Achieving these targets should be value-creating for shareholders,” said Brown.

He also thanked Nedbank’s dedicated employees for their commitment and hard work in difficult conditions and extended his thanks to its more than 7 million retail and wholesale clients, investment community, and other stakeholders for choosing to bank with Nedbank every single day.

Executive pay

Nedbank paid its top seven executives a combined R203 million in 2022, averaging R29 million per executive.

Brown was the best paid, taking home a total package of R43.6 million for the year.

This included a guaranteed salary of R9.6 million, a cash bonus of R17 million (of which R9 million was delivered in shares), and a short-term incentive payout of R17 million – giving a single-figure remuneration of R43.6 million.

Managing executive Anél Bosman took home just under R31.6 million, followed by chief operating officer, Mfundo Nkuhlu, with R30 million and chief financial officer, Mike Davis with R28.1 million.

A full breakdown of executive pay is below:

Per day comparison 

Brown’s executive pay translates to around R119,452 a day (over 365 days).

However, it must be noted that Brown’s salary is below his remuneration received in pre-Covid 2019, where he earned R53 million. This works out to a 21.5% cut in his salary.

Based on Nedbank’s staff costs (R19.9 billion) and employee figures (25,924), the average employee at the bank earns R769,171 a year, or R2,107 a day.

The table below outlines what Nedbank’s top executives earned and how that translates per day.

---

Read: These job sectors pay the highest average salaries in South Africa