SMRT cuts CEO Desmond Kuek's pay by nearly 20%
SMRT chief executive Desmond Kuek
SMRT chief executive Desmond KuekST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
PUBLISHEDJUN 4, 2016, 4:47 AM SGTUPDATEDJUN 4, 2016, 6:55 PM
SINGAPORE - Transport operator SMRT Corp has cut the pay of its chief executive Desmond Kuek - a rare move in the corporate universe.
Mr Kuek, 53, received a total remuneration of $1.87 million for the financial year ended March 31 - down from $2.31 million the year before.
This was revealed in the company's newly-released annual report, which revealed more on Mr Kuek's compensation. It said that his basic salary was $830,955, while his variable performance pay was $1,040,759, making a total of $1,871,714.
It said Mr Kuek earned $2,311,023 the year before - $793,170 in basic salary and $1,517,853 in variable.
The number of SMRT shares awarded to him however, remained unchanged at 260,000.
Before his pay cut, Mr Kuek's compensation was the heftiest that SMRT has paid any of its chief executives.
The latest package is in the ballpark of what his predecessor, Ms Saw Phaik Hwa, got before she left.
The company did not say why Mr Kuek's pay was crimped, but last year, it defended his record remuneration. It said it was benchmarked against the pay of CEOs of peer companies, and that it was competitive and at a responsible level.
It added that Mr Kuek's tasks were more daunting than before.
SMRT has been struggling to renew ageing operating assets to improve service reliability and at the same time looking for new ways to bolster earnings eroded by higher operating expenditure.
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