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Johannesburg - Standard Bank CEO Jacko Maree said on Thursday there are no staff morale issues plaguing either Standard Bank or its insurance subsidiary Liberty Holdings [JSE:LBH].
He was responding to a question from banking analyst Henry Hall of Citigroup at the presentation of the group's full-year financial results.
"Whoever I speak to within Standard Bank Group [JSE:SBK] or Liberty says they are unhappy," said Hall in addressing his question to Maree.
"That is a bit of a generalisation I think, and is not true," responded Maree. He joked that while the investment bankers within the group may not have enjoyed the bonuses of previous years, morale in most of the divisions had improved since the restructuring and retrenchment process was announced in late 2010.
He added that the retrenchment process had been "gut-wrenching" for Standard Bank executives. The bank laid off 953 permanent employees in South Africa and London in an attempt to reduce its growing cost base.
Standard Bank announced headline earnings of R11.2bn, down 4% from the previous year, and headline earnings per share of 715.9c, down 5% year-on-year.
Maree was also quick to cut off speculation around executive remuneration after the bruising publicity which followed the retrenchment announcements.
He told shareholders and investors that both he and Sim Tshabalala, the head of Standard Bank South Africa, had not had any increase or bonuses issued. For Maree this was the second year running.
In the case of other Standard Bank exco members, many of the share options which were linked to performance have been deferred by up to three years to reward longer-term performance.
In a break from protocol at the Standard Bank results presentations, Colin Chen, the general manager of the Bank of Taiwan SA branch, posed a question to Maree, asking whether the group had a clearly defined target for non-perfoming loans.
This kind of shareholder activism may add fuel to the fire that ICBC, which holds 20% of Standard Bank, is starting to up its pressure on management and may have been involved in the decision to cut staff in 2010.
Rhetoric out of Standard Bank management was forceful and blunt, with Tshabalala describing the return on equity (ROE) within the group as "unacceptable" and continued talk of cost-saving measures in terms of travel, IT and marketing expenses.
ROE dipped to 12.5% from 13.6% in the previous financial year.
There were also brutal cuts in a number of African businesses, where executives were replaced and in certain cases new boards were appointed.
While the mood at the presentation was relatively sombre, not everybody was downbeat about the quality of the results.
Stockbrokerage Independant Securities pointed out to clients that Standard Bank had once again maintained its dividend distribution to shareholders, representing the 40th year where the dividend had not been reduced.
By Thursday midday the Standard Bank share price was off 57c (0.6%) to trade at R98.67.
- Fin24
He was responding to a question from banking analyst Henry Hall of Citigroup at the presentation of the group's full-year financial results.
"Whoever I speak to within Standard Bank Group [JSE:SBK] or Liberty says they are unhappy," said Hall in addressing his question to Maree.
"That is a bit of a generalisation I think, and is not true," responded Maree. He joked that while the investment bankers within the group may not have enjoyed the bonuses of previous years, morale in most of the divisions had improved since the restructuring and retrenchment process was announced in late 2010.
He added that the retrenchment process had been "gut-wrenching" for Standard Bank executives. The bank laid off 953 permanent employees in South Africa and London in an attempt to reduce its growing cost base.
Standard Bank announced headline earnings of R11.2bn, down 4% from the previous year, and headline earnings per share of 715.9c, down 5% year-on-year.
Maree was also quick to cut off speculation around executive remuneration after the bruising publicity which followed the retrenchment announcements.
He told shareholders and investors that both he and Sim Tshabalala, the head of Standard Bank South Africa, had not had any increase or bonuses issued. For Maree this was the second year running.
In the case of other Standard Bank exco members, many of the share options which were linked to performance have been deferred by up to three years to reward longer-term performance.
In a break from protocol at the Standard Bank results presentations, Colin Chen, the general manager of the Bank of Taiwan SA branch, posed a question to Maree, asking whether the group had a clearly defined target for non-perfoming loans.
This kind of shareholder activism may add fuel to the fire that ICBC, which holds 20% of Standard Bank, is starting to up its pressure on management and may have been involved in the decision to cut staff in 2010.
Rhetoric out of Standard Bank management was forceful and blunt, with Tshabalala describing the return on equity (ROE) within the group as "unacceptable" and continued talk of cost-saving measures in terms of travel, IT and marketing expenses.
ROE dipped to 12.5% from 13.6% in the previous financial year.
There were also brutal cuts in a number of African businesses, where executives were replaced and in certain cases new boards were appointed.
While the mood at the presentation was relatively sombre, not everybody was downbeat about the quality of the results.
Stockbrokerage Independant Securities pointed out to clients that Standard Bank had once again maintained its dividend distribution to shareholders, representing the 40th year where the dividend had not been reduced.
By Thursday midday the Standard Bank share price was off 57c (0.6%) to trade at R98.67.
- Fin24
