BNDES pays BRL 108,000 on average to employees for profit sharing

BNDES (National Bank for Social Economic Development) distributed an average benefit of R$ 108.1 thousand to its employees through its PLR (profit sharing) program. The value refers to performance in the year 2021.

The payment is the largest among those declared by public companies to Sest (Secretariat for Coordination and Governance of State-owned Companies), linked to the Ministry of Economy, and corresponds to more than four times the average PLR ​​of Banco do Brasil (R$ 27 thousand) and Caixa Econômica Federal (R$ 24.3 thousand), which are also official banks.

BB and Caixa, however, compete for market share with each other and with private institutions, unlike BNDES, which, as a development bank, acts in practice as a public company without competition.

For the institution’s employees, the amount is added to salary, 13th, holiday bonus and other benefits granted monthly by the bank, such as meal allowance (R$ 1,688.74), food basket (R$ 726.71), health care ( R$1,844.74) and educational assistance (up to R$1,400.05).

As the PLR ​​payment is annual, it is as if the policy provided an average monthly increase in remuneration of R$9,010.60 — more than seven times the current value of the minimum wage (R$1,212).

Not all bank employees receive the same amount, which is calculated based on compensation and performance targets. According to official data, the minimum value of PLR was R$ 13.8 thousand, and the maximum, R$ 257.3 thousand. In general, the figures are equivalent to three months of salary for each employee covered.

In all, 2,379 bank employees received profit sharing for 2021, the year in which the institution’s net profit was R$34.1 billion. The information is in a report signed by the bank’s Director of Operations, Ricardo Wiering de Barros.

Government members consider the average PLR ​​value to be high, especially in a context in which the BNDES keeps alive the dispute in the TCU (Union Audit Court) to delay the return of irregular contributions made by the National Treasury during PT governments.

The bank managed, at the beginning of the year, to suspend the faster schedule of advance payments to the Union, on the grounds that this measure would lead to billions of losses, since the operations financed with these resources are still in progress.

The thesis of government technicians, shared by members of the control bodies, is that the permanence of Treasury resources in the coffers of the development bank has helped to boost the institution’s profit and guarantee a richer PLR to its employees – allegation constantly refuted by the BNDES and the association of employees.

The bank still has a debt of R$ 103.2 billion with the Union. As this money was transferred through the issuance of public debt bonds, the National Treasury pays interest on this amount.

The TCU’s determination for the BNDES to return the funds sought precisely to reduce the cost of these subsidies, financed with public resources. The Court of Accounts itself has investigations underway to determine whether the Treasury’s contributions supported the payment of significant shares to employees.

The generous profit sharing of 2021 followed other equally significant amounts: in 2019, the average value was BRL 67.8 thousand, reaching BRL 88.5 thousand in 2020.

PROFIT SHARING
Public companies distribute extra compensation to employees

*Petrobras claimed that the minimum, average and maximum values ​​of the PLR ​​were confidential.
**Average value estimated based on total PLR expenses (R$ 592.15 million) and the number of employees covered.
Source: Ministry of Economy

This year, in the first half of the year alone, the BNDES recorded a net profit of R$ 24.6 billion, 62.9% more than in the same period last year, in nominal terms.

Sought, the bank stated that it has paid PLR to all its employees in the amount of up to three salaries since 2019. “The payment is approved by Sest. The bank provides all due clarification whenever consulted by the supervisory bodies”, says the BNDES.

The bank says that there is no relationship between returns to the Treasury and the distribution of PLR. “BNDES follows the schedule agreed with the National Treasury and delivered to the TCU in early 2021”, he says.

According to the BNDES, the schedule defined a total of BRL 67.5 billion in payments to the Union throughout 2021, which was fully complied with. “In 2022, the bank has already paid BRL 23.8 billion and expects to pay up to another BRL 13.7 billion, also following the agreement”, he says.

Petrobras does not disclose PLR ​​value, but pays the highest salaries to directors

The figures on profit sharing programs for state-owned companies were made available by Sest on its official website, in an initiative to make this data more transparent.

Petrobras, one of the largest companies in the Brazilian government, classified the minimum, average and maximum amounts of PLR paid to its employees as “confidential”.

However, the company reported that the total value of transfers reached R$ 592.15 million. The fact that 30,700 employees received the benefit suggests that the average was around R$19,300 – one fifth of the amount reported by the BNDES.

Sest also started to inform the remuneration of administrators, that is, presidents, vice-presidents and directors, among other command positions of federal public companies.

On this front, Petrobras pays the highest remuneration. The president of the state-owned company receives R$ 116.8 thousand monthly, in addition to the 13th, vacation, housing allowance of R$ 1,800.00, budget of R$ 4,333.34 for air tickets, R$ 7,489.39 for health insurance and R$ $15,300 as a contribution to a supplementary pension plan.

The president of Petrobras should also receive a payment of R$ 1.6 million as variable compensation, a kind of bonus for the company’s executives. The value refers to the year 2021, when the company was chaired by Roberto Castello Branco (until April) and by Joaquim Silva e Luna (fired in April 2022).

The eight directors of Petrobras, on the other hand, receive a monthly salary of R$ 111,200, with benefits similar to those of the president.

At BNDES, the president’s salary is BRL 80,800 per month, in addition to benefits and variable compensation (the amount for 2021, paid in cash, is BRL 121,300). The nine directors receive R$ 74.1 thousand.

At Banco do Brasil, the president’s remuneration is BRL 68,800 per month, not including allowances and a variable compensation of BRL 495,200, referring to 2021. The institution’s nine vice-presidents have salaries of BRL 61.6 thousand.

At Caixa, the salary of the bank’s command is R$ 56,200 per month, in addition to benefits. The bank reported variable remuneration installments only referring to the periods from 2018 to 2020, reaching R$ 74.9 thousand. The salary of the institution’s 12 vice presidents is BRL 50,200.

As they are independent state-owned companies (that is, they pay their expenses with their own income), they can pay remunerations above the civil service ceiling, currently at R$ 39,300.