The pay of Barclays’ chief executive has more than doubled to £10.5m, as a rebound in investment banking and steady interest rates helped push the UK bank’s annual profits up by almost a quarter.
CS Venkatakrishnan’s payout is one of the largest for a Barclays boss, having risen from £4.6m a year earlier in 2023.
His pay jumped as a result of the vesting of long-term bonuses and a rise in the value of Barclays shares that make up those payouts, according to the bank’s annual report.
Shareholders will be asked to give the green light to a new pay policy at this year’s annual general meeting that will cut Venkatakrishnan’s salary but increase his potential bonus, giving him the chance to earn up to £14.3m a year.
Meanwhile, Barclays’ bankers have also cashed in. Top performers will share a bonus pool worth £1.9bn, up from £1.7bn a year earlier, while about 90,000 employees will each be handed £500 worth of shares.
Venkatakrishnan said this was meant to “further align their work with shareholders’ interests and enable them to benefit tangibly from the firm’s progress and success”.
Meanwhile, Barclays reported pre-tax profits of £8.1bn for 2024, up 24% from £6.6bn a year earlier. The strong performance was aided by a 7% jump in income from its investment bank, amid a rebound in dealmaking and market activity, as well as steady interest rates that supported income at its UK retail business.
The jump in profits came despite the bank putting aside its first-ever provision for the growing scandal around motor finance commissions, worth £90m.
Lenders have been grappling with the fallout of a court judgment in October that vastly expanded a Financial Conduct Authority investigation.
The ruling determined that paying a “secret” commission to car dealers who had arranged the loans without disclosing the sum and terms of that commission to borrowers was unlawful. It has ignited fears of a big compensation bill that could rival that after payment protection insurance scandal, and cost lenders a combined £50bn.
While Barclays pulled out of the motor finance market in late 2019, analysts at RBC Capital expect the bank could still face a compensation bill of up to £442m.
Banks are now hoping that efforts by the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, to intervene in the case and potentially sway the courts to offer lower payouts could cut their bills.
Barclays was hit with a big technology outage this month, leading its digital services to be disrupted for around two days.
Venkatakrishnan apologised to customers affected by the incident. “I am deeply apologetic to all our customers for the inconvenience that was caused by that outage,” he said.
“We are absolutely focused on assisting customers who experienced general difficulty as a result of the outage, and we will strive to make sure that the people who were impacted will be compensated,” he said.
Barclays shares fell nearly 5% in early trading on Thursday.
