NCB execs get $5.8 billion, say audited results

The separation costs for the two executive directors at the NCB Financial Group, which operates the largest conglomerate, totalled $5.8 billion, according to audited results released this evening. 

The quantum includes $4.8 billion in shares and $1.0 billion in cash. The prior year's amount was nil, which corroborates that it reflects a one-off payment to the executives who will share the amount. 

The separation costs were distinct from the recurrent salaries which amounted to $2 billion in 2023, compared to $2.6 billion a year earlier.  

The amount is also separate from the other senior managers who also left mid-year, according to the line items in the results.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the bank has made steady profit but paid one dividend of $0.50 in May 2021. The absence of dividends for the bulk of three years made chairman Michael Lee-Chin unhappy. Lee-Chin owns 51 per cent of NCB Financial largely through AIC Barbados.  

The NCB Financial board is comprised of eight directors but only two are executive directors, Patrick Hylton and Dennis Cohen.

Lee-Chin took a more active role in NCB Financial in mid-2023 following the separation of Hylton and Cohen along with six other senior managers as part of plans to cut costs and start a new leadership chapter.  

On November 17, the group announced its second dividend since the pandemic at $0.50 per share which equates to roughly $1.3 billion.  

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