R43 million payday for SPAR execs

SPAR’s three top executives earned a combined R43 million for the most recent financial year, but this is far below what just Shoprite’s and Woolworth’s CEOs earned by themselves.
In the group’s full-year results for the year ended September 2024, SPAR said that reported a total turnover of R152 billion, far above the R146 billion reported a year prior.
The group also reported a jump in pre-tax profits to R2.1 billion, excluding the R1.3 billion drag from its discontinued Polish operation.
Profit after tax was up to R1.65 billion from R1.36 billion, excluding discontinued operations, but dropped to R352 million when considering discontinued operations.
Although headline earnings per share jumped 11.1% to 918 cents, the group did not declare a dividend for the year.
The group said that it is steadily recovering from a R1.6 billion loss from its botched integration of a SAP eenterprise resource planning (ERP) system at its KZN distribution centre.
That said, the group was given a boost to its operations following the disposal of its disastrous venture in Poland.
The sale of the group’s interest in SPAR Poland was approved by the Polish anti-monopoly authorities. The purchaser is now conducting a final confirmatory due diligence before the final disposal is completed.
When it comes to SAP, the group said that has resolved many of the SAP integration issues, such as improving the visibility of pricing and subsidies for buyers, as well as addressing warehouse management inefficiencies
Looking ahead, SPAR noted that it will launch a bespoke high-end food offering to capture the higher-income consumer segment.
Despite the improvement in the group’s results, newly-appointed SPAR CEO Angelo Swartz earned a salary of R16 million for the year, far less than the R25 million earned by his predecessor Brett Botten, who received a nearly R13 million lump sum payment on top of his normal remuneration.
Following Botten’s retirement as CEO on 31 January 2023 and as a result, the board appointed Mike Bosman as Executive Chairman effective 1 February 2023. He was not an employee of SPAR, but still earned R14.9 million in compensation for this stint.
CFO Mark Godfrey did see his pay improve from R9.2 million to R13.2 million. Godfrey retired from the group at the end of 2024.
Chief Operating Officer Megan Pydigadu received R14.2 million for her services.
Overall, the pay of SPAR’s three top executives dropped from R49.1 million in FY23 to R43.4 million in FY24.
Position | FY2023 | FY2023 Remuneration | FY2024 | FY2024 Remuneration |
CEO | Brett Botten | R25 043 000 | Angelo Swartz | R16 045 000 |
CFO | Mark Godfrey | R9 275 000 | Mark Godfrey | R13 174 000 |
COO/ Executive Chairman | *Mike Bosman | R14 869 000 | Megan Pydigadu | R14 218 000 |
Total | – | R49 187 000 | – | R43 437 000 |
However, it should be noted that this is far below the amounts paid to Woolworth’s and Shoprite’s executives.
Woolworths‘ top three executives earned a combined R91 million in their most recent financial year, with CEO Roy Bagattini earning R65 million alone.
Shoprite CEO Pieter Engelbrecht saw his single-figure remuneration increase to R83.27 million in the group’s most recent financial year.
While CFO Anton de Bruyn saw his pay reach R32 million during the period.
Pick n Pay CEO Sean Summer’s pay will only be determined once the group releases its annual report for the current year.
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