Bank chief loses top spot for earnings
BANK of Ireland chief executive Brian Goggin saw his pay package fall 25pc last year to €2.97m -- knocking him off his perch as best-paid boss.
The top spot now belongs to Anglo Irish Bank chief executive David Drumm, who took home €3.27m for the year to the end of last September.
Liam O'Mahony, outgoing boss of CRH, the Irish stock market's highest-valued company (€11.4bn), is the third highest-paid executive on €2.79m.
Mr Goggin's performance bonus slumped to €323,000 for the 12 months to the end of March from €2m for the previous year, as the bank's earnings per share (EPS) growth slowed to 4pc from 22pc.
However, the release of €841,000 of deferred bonuses, arising from the completion of the Bank of Ireland's cost-cutting programme helped cushion the impact on his wallet. The so-called Strategic Transformation Programme was completed a year ahead of schedule in March, with annual savings running at €145m.
Denis Donovan, the chief executive of the group's capital markets division, was the company's second-highest earner, at €1.7m.
Pre-tax profits in the unit soared 14pc last year, compared to just 3pc in the bank's retail financial services operations in the Republic, 12pc in UK financial services and a 27pc slump in Bank of Ireland Life.
The strong performance of the UK financial services division saw its head, Des Crowley, on the third-largest remuneration, at €1.62m. Finance director John O'Donnovan's €1.46m package was the fourth-highest, while Richie Boucher, head of retail financial services in the Republic, took home €1.45m.
All five executive directors benefited last year from the release of deferred bonuses. They will not be able to benefit from any such cushion this year; with analysts, on the whole, pencilling in an earnings decline amid slowing lending growth and mounting bad loans. If these predictions are correct, it would mark the bank's first earnings drop since 1991.
- Joe Brennan
