The five most senior executives of the National Bank received $28.7 million in total compensation during its most recent fiscal year ending in October 2023.
But unlike previous years, this amount of total compensation which includes salaries and various bonuses in shares, options and cash is down significantly compared to the amount of 34.9 million recorded in 2022 for the same five senior management positions at the bank.
This difference is mainly explained by the special payments to the special pension plan of three of Nationale’s highest executives, including its president and CEO, Laurent Ferreira, which had been granted to them in 2022 during their first full year in office.
The value of these special payments had totaled 5 million, including 2.29 million for Mr. Ferreira, which had increased the value of his total remuneration to 10.9 million for the financial year ending in October 2022.
For the most recent financial year 2023, the total compensation value of Laurent Ferreira is reduced to 9.3 million. This amount includes a base salary up 4.7% annualized to $992,667, as well as stock, option and cash bonuses worth a total of $7.49 million, down slightly by 0.2% per year. compared to the value of comparable bonuses granted the previous year.
Nevertheless, Mr. Ferreira’s total compensation of 9.3 million in 2023 represents nearly 85 times the average compensation of employees of the National Bank, according to an estimate made by the Canadian Press agency based on the annual report of the bank.
The financial institution granted nearly 3.4 billion in salaries and benefits to its more than 31,000 employees during the financial year ended October 31, 2023. Which corresponds to an average remuneration of around 110,000 $ among bank employees.
Other senior executives
Among the four other senior executives of the bank whose total compensation is explained in the management circular sent to shareholders, in preparation for their annual meeting on April 19 in Montreal, we note the total compensation worth 7.29 million granted to the new Senior Vice-President of the Financial Markets Department, Étienne Dubuc, for his first year in office in 2023.
Furthermore, his predecessor in this senior management position, Denis Girouard, was transferred to the functions of Senior Executive Vice-President of Wealth Management and Co-Chief Executive Officer of National Bank Financial.
With this transfer, Mr. Girouard obtained 6.3 million in total compensation in 2023, down 18% compared to the 7.68 million obtained the previous year.
Furthermore, the first executive vice-president and chief financial officer at the National Bank, Marie Chantal Gingras, obtained 2.2 million in total compensation in 2023; an amount apparently down 45% compared to the 2022 amount which was inflated by a special payment of 1.6 million to his particular retirement plan.
Similarly, the total compensation of 3.6 million granted in 2023 to Lucie Blanchet, first vice-president of the Individuals and Customer Experience department, is reduced by 20% compared to the amount of 4.5 million recorded in 2022 , and which included 1.1 million in special payment to his retirement plan.
In context, let us recall that the National Bank ended its 2023 fiscal year with a net profit down 1.4% annually to 3.35 billion, while its revenues and total assets increased by 5% to 10.1 billion and 423.5 billion, respectively.
For Nationale shareholders, this decline in the bank’s profitability – return on equity reduced from 18.8% in 2022 to 16.8% in 2023 – translated into a 2.3% drop in their net earnings per share (diluted) to $9.38 in 2023, compared to the amount of $9.61 per share recorded in 2022.