A year to mark with a milestone for Frédéric Oudéa. The CEO of Societe Generale – who recorded record results in 2021 – was awarded compensation (fixed + variable) up 34.4% over one year, to stand at 3.04 million euros. euros.
This is what emerges from the annual report of the banking group, published Thursday. This amount, subject to its validation at the general meeting on May 17, is up 34.4% over one year.
The year 2020 having been particularly marked by the outbreak of the health crisis and the shutdown of the economy, the group had then suffered the first annual losses in its history. In 2021, the rebound was spectacular, with the bank posting a record profit of 5.64 billion euros.
Stock market rebound
In detail, the executive’s compensation consists of a fixed part of 1.3 million euros. Added to this is a variable part, which reached 1.74 million euros for the year 2021, up very sharply from one year to the next: the variable for 2020 had amounted to 961,390 euros. For the record, in the context of the pandemic, the leaders had also given up half of this 2020 variable.
This variable component, of which at least 60% of the payment is deferred over time, is based 60% on financial objectives, and 40% on non-financial indicators (social responsibility, risk management, compliance with regulations, etc.) ).
With regard to the financial dimension, “these exceptional performances are the result of a perfect execution of the strategic decisions taken in 2020”, writes the group in particular, commenting on the action of the general management. Even if due to the war in Ukraine, the stock market prices of banks have suffered in recent weeks, the Societe Generale share price has jumped 77% over the year 2021.
“Many strategic milestones”
Specifically concerning the CEO, among other objectives, “many strategic milestones were reached, communicated and perceived positively by investors during the year 2021”, also underlines the board of directors. The latter refers in particular to the pooling of the Societe Generale and Credit du Nord retail networks, as well as to the proposed acquisition of Leaseplan by ALD, the automobile leasing subsidiary of Societe Generale.
This remuneration is supplemented by a third component, a long-term incentive with a book value of 712,026 euros, which is exercised later in time. Including this component, the total compensation awarded for 2021 amounts to 3.75 million euros, up 42.6% over one year.
The good performance of the general management has the collateral effect of widening the pay gap with the average within the group: including profit-sharing, the general manager earns 45 times more than the average remuneration of the group’s employees, whereas this gap was only 35 times the previous year. In 2017 and 2019, the gap was 47 times.
