Pay for top staff at Dublin-based Depfa falls by €5.8m

Top managers and directors at Depfa Bank, the Dublin-based but German-listed institution, saw their remuneration drop by €5.8 million to €28.3 million last year, writes Arthur Beesley, Senior Business Correspondent.

Their pay fell in spite of an 11 per cent rise to €526 million in annual net profits at Depfa, which specialises in low-risk public-sector borrowing.

A significant part of the remuneration is linked to Depfa's share price, which has come back from a 52-week high of €15.80 to close last night at €13.18 in Frankfurt.

However, management remuneration at Depfa ranks far above that at the most successful Irish banks. For example, Anglo Irish Bank paid €8.8 million to its top managers and directors in 2006.

Depfa's 2006 annual report shows that the eight members of its executive committee received a total of €21 million. Led by chief executive and chairman Gerhard Bruckerman, the committee received €23 million in 2005, a year in which it had six members.

Basic salaries in the committee were unchanged at €4 million in 2006. Cash bonuses declined 44 per cent to €5 million, but share-based payments rose 20 per cent to €12 million.

Some €28.3 million in "key management compensation" included €964,934 in directors' fees and other remuneration of €16.9 million for eight non-executive and three executive directors at Depfa.

Mr Bruckerman is an executive director, in addition to US general manager and former AIB executive Dermot Cahillane and chief financial officer Reinhard Grzesik. Dr Grzesik is a member of the executive committee but Mr Cahillane is not.

Depfa's non-executive directors include former Central Bank governor Maurice O'Connell and former Bundesbank president Hans Tietmeyer. Former TCD academic Frances Ruane left the board in November when she became director of the Economic and Social Research Institute.

Depfa's 2006 annual report marks a change from its previous report, which said top managers and directors received €44.2 million in 2005. By contrast, the 2006 publication reports remuneration of €34.1 million in 2005.

A spokesman said the difference reflected the adoption of the IFRS 2 accounting standard.

While the 2005 report showed the value of the Depfa shares allocated to management priced at the vesting date, the 2006 report reflects the value of the shares when priced at the award date.