Board members at CTBC Financial Holding Co (中信金控), one of the nation’s largest financial firms, last year received the highest average pay among executives of companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE), the bourse said yesterday.
CTBC Financial overtook Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, to become the listed company with the highest-paid board members, although the financial institution had lower earnings than TSMC last year, data compiled by the exchange showed.
CTBC Financial paid its directors NT$66.93 million (US$2.27 million) on average, compared with the average of NT$44.98 million paid by TSMC, the data showed.
CTBC Financial posted NT$37.22 billion in net profit, or earnings per share (EPS) of NT$1.91, while TSMC, which fell one place in the director pay rankings, recorded NT$343.1 billion in net profit with EPS of NT$13.23.
The financial firm was the only company on the main board to pay its directors more than NT$50 million on average, the TWSE said.
President Chain Store Corp (統一超商), which operates 7-Eleven convenience stores in Taiwan, was third after paying its directors NT$42.77 million on average, ahead of food brand Uni-President Enterprises Corp (統一企業) with NT$28.43 million and smartphone camera lens supplier Largan Precision Co (大立光) with NT$27.35 million, the data showed.
The five companies all paid their directors more than NT$2 million a month on average.
Among the top 10 firms for director salaries, the electronics sector took four spots, while the old economy and financial sectors took three spots each, the data showed.
Some loss-making companies listed on the main board still paid their directors high salaries, such as smartphone brand HTC Corp (宏達電), which paid its directors NT$4.83 million on average, despite incurring NT$16.9 billion in net losses, the exchange said.
HTC said the company’s policy is that its directors receive fixed pay, regardless of profitability.
In the over-the-counter market, Win Semiconductors Corp (穩懋) was the only listed company to pay its directors more than NT$10 million on average, the Taipei Exchange (TPEX) said.
Win Semiconductors paid its directors NT$10.47 million on average, ahead of NAND Flash controller chip supplier Phison Electronics Corp (群聯) with NT$6.11 million and funeral service provider Lung Yen Life Service Corp (龍巖集團) with NT$5.11 million, the TPEX said.
The companies last year all posted more than NT$4.4 in EPS, TPEX data showed.
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