CBA boss Comyn gets $10.4m pay packet

afr.com:

Commonwealth Bank boss Matt Comyn’s take-home pay swelled nearly 50 per cent to $10.4 million in the 2023 financial year as his long-term bonuses finally vested.

The banker qualified for 100 per cent of the bonuses first outlined in 2019, requiring him to meet fixed performance hurdles over the past four financial years.

While the CEO’s pay far outdid the rest of the executive team last financial year, it is still short of the $12.3 million his predecessor Ian Narev took home in the 2016 period. Michael Quelch

This added up to more than $5.5 million, according to the bank’s annual report that spelled out this was “the first award granted and vested to Mr Comyn following his appointment as CEO” in 2018. The rest of his pay was made up of $2.5 million in fixed remuneration and $2.4 million in short-term bonuses.

Board remuneration committee chairman Simon Moutter said CBA’s record $10.2 billion profit for the 2023 financial year, propelled by higher official interest rates, “demonstrate disciplined execution of our strategic priorities”.

That same resetting in rates compelled the committee to tighten future performance hurdles.

“As the board monitored executives’ performance during the financial year, it became apparent that rapidly changing macroeconomic factors, in particular central bank interest rate increases, differed from our assumptions at the start of the year,” Mr Moutter said in a letter to investors.

“This warranted a mid‑year review of the financial targets.”

Mr Moutter said the remuneration committee “exercised its discretion” in increasing net profit targets for CBA executives, “an action that was considered to be fair to our shareholders and our executives” in this environment.

While the CEO’s pay far