Following its recent Annual General Meeting (AGM), one of the leading commercial banks in the country, Barclays Bank Botswana has confirmed that it will pay its board chairman, Rizwan Desai atleast P525 000 as allowance for the ensuing year.
In 2014, Deswai pocketed at least P200 000 as allowance for the same position reflecting an increase of more than P300 000.
Desai, who was supposed to retire from his position by rotation in accordance with Section 20:10 of the Constitution of Barclays Bank, was re-elected to the powerful seat at the bank’s AGM which was held early July 2016 at Masa Centre.
The Telegraph has been informed that at the AGM, Deswai moved that for the ensuing year, an annual allowance be provided at the rate of P168 000 per director. In respect to the audit committee, Deswai moved that an annual allowance be provided at the rate of P58 000 per director and P116 000 for the committee chairman.
Still at the AGM, the bank’s shareholders adopted the Annual Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2015 together with the Directors and Independent Auditor’s reports.
This included the auditor’s remuneration amount of P4 699 592 for the past audit. The Barclays Bank shareholders further approved that the bank’s current auditors, PriceWaterHouseCoopers should be re-appointed auditors for the ensuing year.
The AGM follows Barclays Bank’s rebound to good performance following years of poor financial performance linked to internal wrangles and external market conditions.
Earlier this year the bank reported a strong set of results for the second half of 2015 (H2:2015), doubling the first half performance to set alight its full year financial results for the year ended 31 December 2015.
Its full year financials shows that it achieved a positive Profit before Tax (PBT) of P332 million for the year, after doubling its PBT to P222million in the second half from P110 million recorded in the first half. The bank’s resounding performance comes in the wake of subdued performance in the banking sector over the last two years, as a result of regulatory changes and a general economic downturn largely driven by falling commodity prices.
