Leng Beng’s pay above $7.5m last year

CITY Developments Ltd (CDL) executive chairman Kwek Leng Beng received ‘above $7.5 million and up to $7.75 million’ for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2009, unchanged from FY2008.

CDL posted a net profit of $593 million last year, up 2.1 per cent from the preceding year.

In FY2007 – when CDL posted record net earnings of $725 million – Mr Kwek’s remuneration was ‘above $7.75 million and up to $8 million’.

For the latest financial period, 14 per cent of his remuneration was in base salary. Variable bonuses/allowances made up 83 per cent. And board/committee fees and other benefits comprised 2 and one per cent respectively.

Mr Kwek’s brother, Leng Joo, who is CDL’s managing director, saw his payout improve from ‘above $6.25 million and up to $6.5 million’ in FY2008 to ‘above $6.5 million and up to $6.75 million’ in FY2009.

However, his latest remuneration is still below what he received in FY2007 – ‘above $6.75 million and up to $7 million’.

Fellow property giant CapitaLand Group’s president and CEO Liew Mun Leong received $5.8 million last year, down 22 per cent from $7.42 million in 2008. This was despite his bonus rising 29 per cent to $3.83 million, from $2.98 million.

This bonus comes largely from an economic value added (EVA) incentive plan. EVA measures net operating profit after tax less the cost of capital employed.

CapitaLand’s annual report said last year’s EVA bonus was higher than 2008’s due to ‘higher portfolio gain’.

The developer reported a divestment gain of about $1 billion for full-year 2009 – most of it from listing CapitaMalls Asia. However, last year’s group net profit of $1.05 billion was 16 per cent lower than 2008’s $1.26 billion.

Group EVA attributable to the company’s equity holders was halved to $335.9 million in 2009, from $660.6 million in 2008.

Source : Business Times – 10 Apr 2010