Keppel Corp's CEO paid between S$8m and S$8.25m last year
By Lois Calderon | Posted: 06 April 2011 2316 hrs

SINGAPORE : The chief executive officer of Keppel Corporation, Choo Chiau Beng, took home a pay package of between S$8 million and S$8.25 million last year.

This is compared to his previous year's pay of between S$11.5 million and S$11.75 million, which at the time included share options that accounted for 11 per cent of his total remuneration mix.

Mr Choo, who has been at the helm of the world's largest oil-rig builder since 2009, had his remuneration last year consisting of 14 per cent in salary, 44 per cent in bonuses paid and 42 per cent in deferred bonuses.

On top of that, Mr Choo was entitled to up to 300,000 company shares valued at S$7.08 each and another 150,000 shares worth between S$7.72 and S$8.30 apiece in 2010.

For the deferred bonuses, the company said it has adopted an incentive compensation that is deferred over a certain time horizon to ensure its executives continue to generate sustainable shareholder value over the longer term. It also awards shares based on performance targets over a one- to three-year period.

In its annual report, the conglomerate said it grew its bottom line by 12 per cent to S$1.4 billion last year from 2009's S$1.26 billion.

The company's chairman, Lee Boon Yang, noted the gains came as a surprise " given the tentative recovery at the start of 2010 as well as the unexpected events in our industries and markets in the course of the year," referring to the massive oil spill in Gulf of Mexico and property market cooling measures implemented by Singapore and China.

He expects " the external environment for 2011 will be more complex" .

" Although recovery in the advanced economies seems to be gaining momentum, the outlook remains challenging and somewhat clouded over the next few years," Mr Lee added.

- CNA/ms