Indian-origin Piyush Gupta, who retires this month, received SGD 17.58 million (Rs 114.89 crore) in total pay for 2024 as the chief executive of Singapore's largest regional bank DBS Group. 

DBS said Gupta's remuneration figure came after factoring in the performance scorecard and a normalisation in compensation following a reduction taken in 2023 in response to senior management taking accountability for digital disruptions.

This comes as the bank achieved a record performance in 2024 as full-year net profit rose 11% to SGD 11.4 billion, with return on equity (ROE) at 18%, according to the bank's annual report released on Thursday.

Gupta's pay in 2023 was reduced by 27 per cent to SGD 11.2 million, news agency PTI reported. Compared to the SGD 15.4 million payment of 2022, his 2024 pay was up 14%.

The bulk of his 2024 package came from a deferred award of SGD 9.36 million, to be paid mostly in shares. The rest was made up of a cash bonus of SGD 6.65 million, a base salary of SGD 1.5 million and other payments of SGD 80,533, comprising club, car and driver benefits.

In February, Gupta said the bank is planning to cut 4,000 contract and temporary staff over the next three years as artificial intelligence (AI) increasingly replaces humans.

Gupta is set to pass the baton to Tan Su Shan, currently deputy CEO and group head of institutional banking, when he retires at the next annual general meeting on 28 March 2025.