Access, FBN, UBA, Zenith, Stanbic IBTC, others pay N291bn wages, salaries in six months
The Managing Directors/Chief Executive Officers of six listed Nigerian banks received an aggregate sum of N821 million as remuneration in the first half of 2022.
The figure is a 17.4% increase compared to N699 million earned in the corresponding period of 2021.
This is according to data obtained from the financial statements of the banks for the second quarter of 2022.
The list of banks considered is based on those that released audited interim results for the first half of the year.
The banks are Fidelity, GTB, Access, Zenith, UBA, and Stanbic IBTC Bank.
However, in the first half of the year, some banks have been restructured into holding companies, which meant a reshuffle in the companies’ boards.
The Managing Director/CEO of Zenith Bank, Ebenezer Onyeagwu, earned a sum of N70 million as emolument in the first half of 2022. This a marginal decline from the N73 million he received in the corresponding period of 2021.
Onyeagwu guided Zenith Bank to a net profit of N111.4 billion in H1 2022, a 5% increase from N106.1 billion printed in the corresponding period of 2021. He had earned N230 million as emolument in 2021 full year.
The Managing Director of Access Bank, Herbert Wigwe, received a sum of N73 million as emolument in the first half of the year. This represents a 5.8% increase when compared to the N69 million he earned in the corresponding period of 2021.
Wigwe assumed the position of the bank’s GMD/CEO in January 2014 after joining the bank in March 2022 as Deputy Managing Director from Guaranty Trust Bank. However, following the restructuring of the company, he was subsequently appointed a Non-Executive Director in May 2022, while Roosevelt Ogbonna took over the position as the MD/CEO.
Access Holdings printed a profit after tax of N88.74 billion in H1 2022, representing a 2.1% increase when compared to N86.94 billion recorded in the same period of 2021.
Managing Director/CEO of Fidelity Bank, Mrs. Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, earned a sum of N110 million as emolument in the period under review, same as recorded in the previous year.
The bank reported it as an annual payment, rather than in the first six months of the year.
Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe assumed office as Managing Director/CEO, Fidelity Bank on January 1, 2021, following her role as the Executive director, Lagos and South West, overseeing the bank’s business in the six states that make up the South West region of the bank.
Fidelity Bank posted a 20.7% year-on-year growth in its post-tax profit, which stood at N23.31 billion in the first half of the year.
The immediate past Managing Director/CEO of United Bank for Africa, Kennedy Uzoka, earned N128 million.
Uzoka resigned from the company board effective from July 31, 2022 and handed over to Oliver Alawuba.
In the period under review, Uzoka earned a sum of N128 million as emoluments from UBA, a significant increase from N70 million he received in the corresponding period of 2021.
In the period under review, UBA posted a net profit of N70.33 billion, a 16.1% growth compared to N60.58 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2021.
Guaranty Trust is another bank which had gone through restructuring into a holding company, known as Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc. Segun Agbaje, the GMD/CEO of the GTCO earned the sum of N195 million as emolument in the first half of the year. In 2021, he earned N171.9 million as emolument in the full year period.
GTCO recorded a 2.3% decline in its net profit to N77.56 billion in the first half of 2022 from N79.42 billion recorded in H1 2021.
Demola Sogunle, Chief Executive, Stanbic IBTC Holdings earned N245 million as emolument in the first half of 2022, an increase from N205 million recorded in the corresponding period of 2021.
Sogunle previously served as chief executive of Stanbic IBTC Bank PLC, chief executive of Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers and as the Head of Treasury amongst other roles in the Stanbic IBTC Group.
In terms of performance, Stanbic IBTC recorded a 36% year-on-year growth in its profit after tax to stand at N30.67 billion in H1 2022.
Meanwhile, another report also indicated that 13 Nigerian banks listed on the Nigerian Exchange paid the sum of N291 billion as wages and salaries to their staff in the first half of the year 2022.
The figure is an 11.8% increase, compared to the N260.36 billion recorded in the corresponding period of last year.
This is as aggregate personnel expenses, which include other benefits to the employees such as pension contributory scheme, and defined benefit obligations amongst others, increased by 15.3% from N276.9 billion recorded in H1 2021 to N319.29 billion in the review period.
According to the breakdown of data of the top 13 banks listed on the Nigerian Exchange, Access Bank recorded the highest staff expenses between January and June 2022, followed by First Bank, and UBA.
Access Bank spent a total of N58.27 billion on personnel expenses between January and June 2022, an increase of 33.9%, compared to N43.5 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2021. Out of this amount, N50.91 billion was used as payment for wages and salaries of its employees.
Its staff compensation increased significantly, despite a decline in its staff strength. Notably, its total staff strength stood at 6,040 as of June 2022, from 6,497 employees recorded as of June 2021.
Meanwhile, on a per capita basis, its average salary per staff for the six-month period stood at N8.43 million, the highest compared to the other 12 banks.
A breakdown of the bank’s personnel expenses shows that N5.01 billion was spent on defined benefit obligations.
Contributions to defined contributions plans for the review period stood at N1.57 billion, while the restricted share performance plan stood at N785 million.
FBN Holdings, the parent company of First Bank of Nigeria spent a sum of N55.3 billion on personnel expenses in the first half of 2022, compared to N51.2 billion spent in the corresponding period of 2021.
Although the bank did not release the breakdown of its personnel expenses because the result for the first half of the year was an unaudited result, personnel costs increased by 7.9% year on year.
According to the bank’s statement, the firm’s staff strength stood at 8,179 as of December 2021, translating to an average of N6.76 million expenses per staff in the six-month period.
A total of N52.29 billion was spent by UBA on personnel expenses in the first half of the year, representing a 22.7% increase when compared to the N42.62 billion recorded in the same period of the previous year.
Also, UBA paid a sum of N48.75 billion as wages and salaries in the review period, a 20.1% increase when compared to N40.57 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2021. The breakdown of the report showed that N2.2 billion was spent on defined contribution plans.
Meanwhile, N1.34 billion was spent on termination benefits. On a per-capita basis, UBA’s 10,275 employees earned an average of N4.74 million in salaries between January and June 2022.
Zenith Bank spent N39.74 billion on personnel expenses in the first half of 2022, representing a 5.1% increase from N37.58 billion recorded in the same period of 2021. Salary and wages expenses also increased by 5.1% to N36.7 billion in the period under review.
The tier-one bank increased its staff strength from 7,847 employees recorded as of June 2021 to 8,152 by the end of June 2022. Using the staff strength as of the review period and salary expenses, the average salary of staff members in the six-month period stood at N4.5 million.
The sum of N2.07 billion was spent by Zenith Bank on staff pension contributions, while N964 million was assigned to other staff costs.
Stanbic IBTC Holdings, the parent company of Stanbic IBTC Bank spent a total of N24.68 billion as personnel costs between January and June 2022. Stanbic IBTC increased its staff expenses by 22.2% year-on-year from N20.2 billion recorded in H1 2021.
Also, its wages and salaries increased by 20.7% to N23.79 billion, while its staff strength increased to 2,911 employees from 2,895 recorded in the previous year. Meanwhile, salary and wages per staff stood at N2.91 million in the six months.
Similarly, the holding company spent a sum of N888 million on equity-linked transactions.
Other banks include GTB – N18.45 billion; FCMB – N16.59 billion; Fidelity Bank – N15.23 billion; Union Bank – N11.95 and Wema Bank – N9.55 billion.
