WITH its net profit hitting a record high of $4.6 billion for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2022, the salary of United Overseas Bank’s : U11 -0.27%(UOB) chief executive officer has also gone up.

Wee Ee Cheong’s annual salary for 2022 came in at $14.2 million, a 30.2 per cent increase from his annual salary of $10.9 million in 2021.

His annual remuneration comprises a base pay of $1.2 million, a bonus of $13 million, as well as benefits-in-kind and other transport-related benefits amounting to $37,577.

UOB’s annual report published on Thursday (Mar 23) showed that 60 per cent of Wee’s variable pay is deferred, and will vest over the next three years.

Of the deferred sum, 40 per cent will be issued in deferred cash, while the remaining 60 per cent will be in the form of share-linked units.

Since Wee is already remunerated as an employee of UOB, he does not receive any fees for serving as an executive director on the bank’s board and its board committees.

As a substantial shareholder, he is also ineligible to participate in UOB’s share plan, a scheme which allows the delivery of UOB ordinary shares held in treasury by the bank.

Wee said in the annual report that 2022 was a strong year financially for UOB.

Its core net profit, which excluded one-off costs from integrating Citigroup’s Malaysia and Thailand consumer businesses, was a record high of S$4.8 billion, an increase of 18 per cent from a year earlier. 

Correspondingly, return on equity increased to 11.9 per cent for the year.

UOB’s shares closed at $29.42 on Thursday, down 0.3 per cent or $0.08.

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This article was first published in The Business Times.