Kiwi's pay rockets to $20m

Ralph Norris. Photo / Supplied

New Zealand businessman Sir Ralph Norris has received an 80 per cent pay rise to A$16 million ($20.7 million) as chief executive of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

The former Auckland-based head of the ASB soared ahead of his rivals at other Australian banks thanks to an A$4.5 million increase in his long-term performance rights that are tied to the performance of the bank's profits and share price, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Sir Ralph's official take home pay actually dropped slightly - by $125,000 - to $3.12 million in a reflection of the pay cuts and salary freezes that the bank imposed following its tough 2009 financial year.

But his main cash bonus jumped to A$1.85 million and his long- and short-term share packages contributed to most of the increase.

The rise is expected to create further political and consumer anger in Australia as the big banks return to making big profits amid claims of profit gouging.

Last month, CBA posted a 20 per cent increase in full-year net profit to A$5.66 billion ($7.13 billion), but issued a cautious outlook due to global economic uncertainty.

The CBA is ASB's parent company.

Sir Ralph also ran Air NZ before moving to Sydney to head the CBA.