Novobanco staff to receive bonus from sale to BPCE in May
Mark Bourke has informed the staff committee that he has already been given the go-ahead to award employees a bonus equivalent to two months’ salary in light of the successful sale of Novobanco.
Novobanco has informed staff that it has already been given the go-ahead to pay the bonus equivalent to two months’ salary following the sale of the institution to the Groupe BPCE. The payment will be made alongside the May salary payments, following the French group’s takeover, which is scheduled for the end of April.
The information was conveyed by the bank’s CEO, Mark Bourke, to the staff committee at a meeting held this week. The staff committee itself has already communicated the decision internally via the monthly newsletter, to which ECO had access.
“The CEO expressed confidence in the award of the bonus, noting that an agreement had been reached regarding its payment. It was clarified that, for the bonus to be processed, a number of formal steps remain pending, namely the presentation of results and the approval of the accounts at the general meeting, with the signing of the sale to the new shareholder being the final necessary step”, reported the staff representative body led by Liliana Felício.
“In this context, it was indicated that payment should take place with the May salary, given that the signing is scheduled for the end of April”, she added.
Novobanco’s annual general meeting is scheduled for 23 March to approve the 2025 financial statements, a year in which it recorded profits of €828 million, up 11% year-on-year. The signing of the sale of Novobanco to BPCE is expected to take place on 28 April. This means that, with the processing of the following month’s salaries, employees will receive a bonus equivalent to two months’ salary in relation to the sale of the financial institution.
“The bonus is straightforward and applies across the board”
This is a bonus that employees have been demanding since the moment Lone Star announced, in June last year, the agreement to sell Novobanco to the French group for €6.4 billion. They wanted recognition of the “effort, dedication and fundamental role” they played in the bank’s recovery and growth over the last decade. Initially, as ECO revealed first-hand, this bonus was refused, with only a bonus for management being approved.
At the meeting he held with the workers’ committee, Mark Bourke made a point of emphasising that, in the bank’s management’s view, the “bonus constitutes recognition at a specific moment and should therefore be simple in nature and apply across the board to all employees”.
The measure, as estimated by the bank’s staff committee, is expected to cost around €25 million.
Bonuses for directors doubled last year
According to Novobanco’s annual report and accounts, the board was entitled to performance bonuses totalling €3.7 million last year, an increase of 84% compared with 2024.
Mark Bourke, who is expected to remain at the helm of the bank when it becomes French-owned, received a bonus of €1.13 million, almost three times more than in the previous year. In addition to this variable remuneration, which will be paid in instalments over the coming years, the Irish executive received a fixed salary of €830,000 and an expatriation allowance of €300,000. All told, the CEO received total remuneration of €2.26 million in 2025, 78% higher than the previous year.
In total, Novobanco’s executive board of directors, currently comprising seven members, was entitled to fixed and variable remuneration of €7.5 million, an increase of 42% compared to 2024.
As for the general and supervisory board, chairman Byron Haynes received €600,000 in fixed pay and a further €100,000 in other benefits, totalling €700,000. In 2024, Haynes had received €518,000. The general and supervisory board received a total of €1.677 million.
