By Yang Huiwen

SINGTEL paid chief executive officer (CEO) Chua Sock Koong $3.57 million in her first year in the top job, according to the telco's latest annual report.

Ms Chua, the only woman on SingTel's 11-member board, received a base pay of $1.15 million and a cash bonus of $2.34 million for the year ended March 31.

This is well up from her pay a year earlier as chief financial officer, when she got $1.67 million and 793,000 performance shares worth about $900,000.

If the fair value of Ms Chua's performance shares is included, her total would be around $5 million, a sum widely touted when she took the job in April last year.

By comparison, former CEO Lee Hsien Yang was paid $2.15 million in cash and benefits last year. He was also awarded 1.9 million performance shares worth $2.19 million at the time.

Besides Ms Chua, other top earners at SingTel include the CEO of the telco's unit Optus, Mr Paul O'Sullivan, who received $2.67 million, which included a base pay of $830,000 and a $1.56 million bonus.

SingTel Singapore CEO Allen Lew got more than Ms Chua, at $3.9 million, but that included $1.5 million in benefits. This was mostly to compensate him for Australia's higher tax rate when he was seconded to Optus. His package included a base pay of $1.32 million and a $1.06 million cash bonus.

For the year ended March 31, SingTel's net profits grew 4.8 per cent to $3.96 billion.

This article was first published in The Straits Times on 27 June 2008.