DBS chief Piyush Gupta’s variable pay cut by 30% over digital disruptions

SINGAPORE: Due to the disruptions caused by the bank’s customers ‘ use of the internet, Mr. Piyush Gupta, the DBS chief executive officer, had his variable pay reduced by 30 % in 2023.

As part of its quarterly earnings statement, DBS announced this amount, which amounted to S$ 4.14 million ( US$ 3.08 million ), on Wednesday ( Feb 7 ). The CEO and other party management committee members collectively received a 21 % reduction in their varying pay.

Last year, Singapore’s largest lender experienced a number of setbacks to its digital banking services, culminating in the&nbsp, Monetary Authority of Singapore ( MAS ) prohibiting DBS from acquiring any new business ventures for six months.

Additionally, DBS was prohibited from shrinking its tree and ATM sites in Singapore and was forced to halt non-essential IT changes for six months.

Q4 REASONS

After posting a 2 % increase in fourth quarter net income, which exceeded expectations, the bank maintained advice for net interest income for 2024 at roughly last year’s rates.

Our company abilities will put us in good stead to maintain our achievement in the upcoming season, Mr. Gupta said in a statement, “while interest levels are expected to loosen and political tensions persist.”

According to the slides that accompany his results, he anticipated return on equity ( ROE ) to be 15 % to 17 % for this year and fee income growth at double digits in addition to maintaining net interest income at roughly 2023 levels.

A crucial profitability indicator, the full-year net interest margin ( NIM), is anticipated to be slightly lower than the fourth quarter NIM of 2.13 percent.

Due to higher interest rates, Singapore’s businesses, the largest in Southeast Asia, are expected to report higher earnings for the third quarter. However, as central bankers move toward price reductions and turbulent markets weigh on the wealth sector, growth speed is expected.

According to DBS, the first Singaporean lender to report this earnings season, net profit from October to December increased to S$ 2.39 billion ( US$ 1.78 billion ) from S$ 2.34 billion earlier on the back of a 9 % increase in total income.

According to LSEG information, this exceeded the median estimate of S$ 2.37 billion provided by four experts.

The largest banks in Southeast Asia, DBS, proposed a last dividend of 54 cents per share and ten-for-ten extra issues.

The NIM increased from 2.05 percent a month earlier to 2.13 percent during the third.

The full-year monthly income increased by 26 % to S$ 10.3 billion from S$ 8.19 billion in 2022. Return on equity increased from 15 % to a record high of 18 % from the previous year.