ANZ chief's pay rises to $4.7m in 2014

ANZ chief executive David Hisco.

ANZ New Zealand chief executive David Hisco has enjoyed a solid pay rise, with his total remuneration lifting almost 15 per cent to $4.7 million.

The high-flying banker was the top-paid boss in the Business Herald's latest executive pay survey, published last month, with his A$3.7 million ($4.1 million) pay packet for the 2013 financial year.

In the 2014 year his total remuneration rose to A$4.2 million ($4.7 million), according to the bank's latest annual report.

Originally from South Australia, Hisco has been with the Australasian lender for more than three decades and took the helm of its local arm in September 2010.

His latest pay packet includes a cash salary of A$1.2 million, total cash incentive of A$1.2 million and retirement benefits of A$61,805.

ANZ New Zealand reported a 17 per cent rise in cash profit to $1.68 billion for the year to September 30, 2014.

Mike Smith, the Melbourne-based bank's group chief executive, received total remuneration of A$10.4 million ($11.6 million) in 2014 financial year, up from A$10.1 million ($11.2 million) a year earlier, the annual report said.

The First Union, which represents ANZ's unionised staff in NZ, has been at loggerheads with the bank over proposed pay rises of between 2 and 3 per cent and what the union claims are attempts to "casualise" the workforce and reduce job security.

The union has been critical of Hisco's pay packet, saying he earns more than 120 times what the bank's lowest-paid workers receive.

First Union general secretary Robert Reid recently said many staff at the bank would find Hisco's salary difficult to comprehend.

"That kind of pay is just beyond belief for both people that work for those organisations and also for the general public," Reid said. "No one person can be worth that amount of money."

ANZ has previously defended Hisco's remuneration, saying it "reflects the strong performance of the New Zealand business, increasing our market share and strengthening the ANZ brand".