Top executive leaves R3.9 million a month job in South Africa
Pepkor’s Chief Operating Officer (COO), Sean Cardinaal, will step down from his role at the end of this year.
For the 2025 financial year, Cardinaal was Pepkor’s highest-paid executive based on total remuneration, earning more than the CEO.
The high earnings come as Cardinaal earns expatriate allowances from the company, due to his living and working in England.
He earned nearly R46.97 million in total remuneration at the end of the 2025 financial year, while Pieter Erasmus, Pepkor’s CEO, earned approximately R30 million.
The company announced that Cardinaal would step down from his role on 31 December 2026, at the end of his fixed-term contract.
“The Board expresses its sincere appreciation to Sean for his exceptional leadership and significant contribution to Pepkor during his tenure,” Pepkor said.
He will be succeeded by Garth Napier, Pepkor’s current chief commercial officer, at the start of 2027 after Cardinaal steps down.
“The Board is pleased to announce that Garth Napier, currently Pepkor’s Chief Commercial
Officer, will succeed Sean as COO, effective 1 January 2027,” Pepkor said.
Napier has served at Pepkor for years, including as managing director of Pep Africa, overseeing operations across the continent.
While working as its commercial officer, he “led the group’s fintech strategy, including financial services,” Pepkor said.
He has also served in C-suite positions at other companies, including managing director of Old Mutual Insure and leading a division within Edcon.
The company also said that a structured transition would occur between October and December 2026.
While Cardinaal will leave his executive position at the end of the year, Pepkor said that he would remain with the company in an advisory role.
It said that he would “remain actively involved within the Pepkor group throughout 2027” to retain his “expertise and deep institutional knowledge.”
Strong results for Pepkor
With Cardinaal at the helm of Pepkor’s operations, the company is expecting strong results so far in 2026.
The company shared a voluntary trading update, showing that like-for-like sales growth was positive across nearly every business segment.
The company saw particular success in its overseas operations, such as Avenida – an affordable clothing retailer in Brazil.
In South Africa, Pep saw its sales volumes grow by 3.4% in the last ten months, while Pep Africa had a larger growth of 6.6%.
The only Pepkor segment which saw sales decrease in the first ten months of the company’s financial year was Ackermans, which dropped by 1.3%.
The strong sales growth in several segments translated into improved revenue for the year, with Pepkor’s clothing and general merchandise sector increasing by 10.4%.
Revenue for the company’s furniture, appliances and electronics segment also increased by 16.3% year-on-year.
The company said that, while South Africa’s consumer environment had been subdued recently, it had outperformed many competitors and gained market share.
“The group outperformed the market and gained market share, based on July 2026 retailers liaison committee data, adjusted for acquisitions and brand closures,” Pepkor said.
It said that Pep had been a driving force behind its performance, which it called “the group’s discount leader.”
“Speciality performed well relative to the market and the newly acquired Legit business exceeded expectations,” the company added.
In the furniture and electronics sector, Pepkor said the market had been challenging, but its lifestyle division had delivered a strong performance.
It also found that online sales across its segments had increased considerably, by roughly 38.9% year-on-year.
Pepkor’s positive results over the last ten months have also led to the company increasing its retail footprint.
In the last ten months, Pepkor has increased its total number of retailers by 736, with 195 being newly opened stores and 541 being added through acquisitions.
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