Citigroup CEO gets $24 million as compensation in 2018

(Reuters) - Citigroup Inc said on Friday its Chief Executive Michael Corbat will get a 4.35 percent raise, bringing his total compensation for 2018 to $24 million (19 million pounds).

Corbat's total compensation included a base salary of $1.5 million plus cash bonuses of about $6.75 million, equity awards of nearly $7.88 million, and a long-term performance based pay worth $7.88 million.

Members of the board said they considered the bank's earning operating performance, and market levels of pay when deciding his compensation.

A year earlier, Corbat enjoyed a 48 percent raise for a total annual compensation of $23 million as the bank grew adjusted profit by 4 percent.

In 2018, the bank exceeded its goal for returns on investment but fell short of its efficiency target due to revenue pressure at the end of the year. The bank reported a 2018 efficiency ratio of 57.4 percent, shy of Corbat’s 57.3 percent goal. Its ROTCE of 10.9 percent last year was above the 10.5 percent target.

A lower efficiency ratio means a bank is better at managing its costs relative to revenue, while ROTCE is a widely watched measure of how well a bank uses shareholder money to generate profits.

Citi has been under pressure from investors to prove it can grow its underlying businesses rather than simply returning capital through share buybacks.

During 2018 its shares declined more than 30 percent despite returning more than 100 percent of its profits through dividends and buybacks. Earnings per share jumped 26 percent due to fewer shares outstanding while revenue edged up 1 percent.

Earlier this month, Bank of America Corp disclosed CEO Brian Moynihan's annual compensation rose 15 percent to $27 million.

In January, Morgan Stanley said CEO James Gorman's overall pay rose 7 percent to $29 million, and JPMorgan Chase & Co CEO's compensation rose 5 percent to $31 million, according to filings.

(Reporting by Diptendu Lahiri in Bengaluru; Editing by Marguerita Choy)