Co-op Bank chief executive is the best-paid professional serving in a public listed company.
In its annual report, Co-op Bank said it paid the CEO a Sh370 million in the year ended December 2017. Of this, Sh99.8 million in salary and allowances. There was a further Sh270.7 million paid in bonus.
This amount translates to almost Sh1 million every day according to Business Daily.
In 2017, further states the report, he earned Sh92.6 million in salary and allowance before he got Sh7 million pay increase in 2018.
He is the highest paid leader of a Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed firm. He is followed by KCB’s Joshua Oigara who earns Sh265 million per year.
Muriuki’s pay this year is more than five times the Sh60.4 million that Equity Bank’s James Mwangi earned
Co-op Bank in response to his hefty pay says it is commensurate to his long service and role in turning around the bank to one of the most profitable financial institutions.
“Under the performance driven culture, it is noteworthy that the bank has progressively improved profitability from a huge loss of Sh2.3 billion in 2000 and an asset base of Sh22.3 billion to the current profit before tax of over Sh16.4 billion and an asset base of almost Sh400 billion,” Co-op Bank says in its remuneration report as further quoted by Business Daily.
Muriuki first joined Co-op Bank in March 2001. A year later, the lender’s first net profit rose to Sh164.7 million in 2002.
Since then, the profits have risen to Sh11.4 billion in the year ended December 2017, representing a compounded annual growth rate of 30.32 percent.
The bank’s shareholder funds now stand at Sh68 billion down from Sh1.9 billion in 2001. The shares have attracted a 50 percent premium in the market, raising it to Sh103 billion.