Apart from profits, directors' fees are now transparent

Profits, dividends or liabilities may not be all what shareholders and the investing public are looking for.

Remuneration and fees to directors is also a matter of interest and under governance and transparency rules, many listed companies are disclosing this useful data. Below is a synopsis of the remuneration and fees of directors ( given in rupees/ million) of some of Sri Lanka's largest diversified groups for year ending March 31, 2017. Some of this data has been categorized as payments for ' key management personnel which includes directors and higher management': Company/Directors fees Aitken Spence Hayleys Hemas JKH (executive directors) JKH (non ex directors) LOLC Laugfs Gas Plc 2016/17 (Rs) 445.7 mln 1.063 billion 685 mln 363.4 mln 47.5 mln 359.5 mln 178.3 mln 2015/16 472.7 mln 795.7 mln 594mln 375.9 mln 51.7 mln 342.5mln (Note: LOLC figures are for the two previous financial years as latest 2016/17 audited figures were not available as at Friday, June 9) 135.8 mln

On banks

For those interested in the remuneration of directors at commercial banks (in most cases the 'banking group') as at end December 2016, the details are as follows: Bank of Ceylon Commercial Bank DFCC HNB NDB NTB PABC People's Bank Sampath Bank Seylan Bank Union Bank 2016 14.3 mln 38.8 mln 19.4 mln 110 mln 33.5 mln 44 mln 48.6 mln 11.1 mln 52.7 mln 55.5 mln 7 mln 2015 19.5 mln 31. 9 mln 24.7 mln

(Note: The DFCC Bank's 2016 report gives the fees for 12 months ending December 2016 compared with nine months to December 2015) 96.6 mln 35.2 mln 50.4 mln 34.3 mln 6.4 mln 53.9 mln 32.9 mln 7.3 mln