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Hardworking HSBC chief not really highest-paid
Some investors, notably activist fund Knight Vinke, may think HSBC Holdings chairman Stephen Green earned too much for what he delivered. But at least he was far from being the highest-paid executive in Hong Kong, on the mainland, or even Macau.
Not only did Ping An Insurance (Group) chairman Peter Ma Mingzhe  make more than Mr Green, so did Standard Chartered chief executive Peter Sands, whose pay cheque expanded 52 per cent to #4.57 million (HK$71 million) last year.
And that was despite HSBC  earning  almost seven times more than Standard Chartered.
To be fair,  Standard Chartered's non-executive chairman Mervyn Davies made #1.32 million, down 71 per cent, after  moving to a part-time position.
Using Mr Green's #3 million  (HK$46.75 million) pay as a benchmark, we  noticed Wynn Resorts chief executive Steve Wynn received much more despite producing much less than  HSBC.
Last year, Mr Wynn, whose flagship Wynn Macao Resort started operating 18 months ago, made US$11.24 million (HK$87.71 million), up 12 per cent.
Now, who wants to challenge a man who took only  3 pence for every #100 he made for HSBC?
Curious discrepancies
Linking executive pay to profitability enables us to make  two interesting findings about financial institutions.
Take the example of Bank of China (Hong Kong), which was three times more profitable than Bank of East Asia. Yet its three top executive directors together earned only half of what David Li Kwok-po made as head of BEA last year.
BOCHK's chief executive He Guangbei made HK$8.42 million,  a 24 per cent increase. His deputy Gao Yingxin earned HK$3.49 million while  chief financial officer Raymond Lee Wing-hung received HK$4.75 million. The figures add up to  just HK$16.66 million, more than 50 per cent below Mr Li's HK$33.85 million.
Likewise, we figured the top 25 executives of China Life Insurance made  29.28 million yuan, less than the 46 million yuan rival Ping An's  chairman Peter Ma  earned.
The pay of China Life chairman Yang Chao rose 41 per cent to 1.99 million yuan, still less than what Mr Ma made in a month.
Doubtful loyalty
Who says Hong Kong investors are loyal and long-term?
We figured almost one-third of investors dumped shares they bought in mega listings within the first year, as  data we have retrieved from a couple of A-share annual reports indicate.
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, which attracted almost one million applicants for its new share offering in November 2006, had only 279,067 H-share holders by the end of  December last year.
In the same year, Bank of China, which drew 780,000 applicants, had only 184,039 H-share holders  on record in December.
Likewise,  China Life  was down to 36,177 shareholders in Hong Kong after  four years and four months.
Tell-tale numbers
Still with numbers, Huaneng Power International chairman Li Xiaopeng spelled out an easy-to-remember internal target codenamed '6543' to be achieved by 2010.
Huaneng hopes to achieve 60,000 megawatts of installed  power generation capacity, 50 million tonnes of  coal output capacity, 40 million tonnes of  coal storage and transshipments at ports and 30 million tonnes of  coal shipping capacity.
Baby-rearing for a change
Many had hoped she could stay longer since her name, at least, fits exceptionally well the once high-profile internet company.
But Tommei Tong Mei-kuen yesterday resigned as Tom Group chief executive after five years with Li Ka-shing's multimedia flagship.
She will be succeeded by chief operating officer Ken Yeung Kwok-mung but will remain a non-executive director.
Her stepping down  comes after Tom lapsed into losses again last year, but the real reason  for her departure probably is a new role. Ms Tong will devote her  herself to motherhood full time, as she is due to give birth in four weeks.
The media-friendly executive yesterday invited reporters  to an informal tea gathering featuring ginger and pig's knuckle in fragrant black vinegar, a traditional celebratory food for new parenthood. This time, there was no shop talk - only an exchange of information on how to raise a baby.



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Bank of China (BOC)

Lai See

HSBC