Business

Pick n Pay CEO Sean Summers scores R56.7 million payday

Luke Fraser

 ·1 Jul 2026

Pick n Pay Group CEO Sean Summers earned R56.7 million in remuneration in the 2026 financial year, which was far higher than the group’s lowest-paid employee, who only earned R67,700.

Summers returned as CEO in 2023 to steer the ship following an extremely poor performance from Pick n Pay Grocery.

During his tenure, the group has narrowed its losses, sold a large chunk of discount retailer Boxer and implemented a multi-billion rights offer.

He has also overseen a significant restructuring and rightsizing of the group’s business, closing many of the brand’s under-performing stores and converting others to more suitable outlets.

For the financial year ended 31 March 2026 , Summers recorded remuneration of R56.7 million, a decline from his R65 million in FY25.

This included a base salary of R25.2 million. He did not receive any medical aid, pension, or short-term incentives for the year.

However, he did earn R31.5 million in long-term awards charges. The fair value of this award is determined at the grant date.

“Depending on the nature of the vesting criteria, long-term awards expense may be reversed and recouped by the group if the vesting criteria are not met,” Pick n Pay said.

Summers did not earn any fees for board meetings during the period. While he also serves on the board of Boxer, any fees earned in relation to this are paid to Pick n Pay Retailers Proprietary Limited.

Summers’ remuneration is notably higher than the R67,700 paid to the group’s lowest-paid employee.

The group’s average remuneration was R180,800, while the median, which is less influenced by outliers, was R121,800.

While the top 5% of earners earned an average of R1.1 million, the bottom 5% earned an average of R72,300.

The pay gap ratio between the top 5% and the bottom 5% stood at 15.5:1 during the period.

Summers’ remuneration is also about four times that of CFO Lerena Olivier, who earned R14.9 million in compensation.

Group financial results

The Pick n Pay Group has seen its total comprehensive loss improve to R185 million in the 2026 financial year, down from the R658 million in FY25.

The group reported a R597 million positive year-on-year swing in profit before tax and capital items to a R360 million profit.

That said, when including tax and capital items, the group recorded a loss of R193 million for the period, an improvement from the R651 million loss in FY25.

The group said that profitability was far lower at the headline earnings level, due to a R450 million increase in the Boxer non-controlling interest to R535 million.

This resulted in a 34.4% Boxer non-controlling interest being included for the full FY26, compared to the first three months in FY25.

Group headline earnings decreased by R22 million to R386 million. The headline loss per share also dropped by 14.6% to a loss of 52.58 cents per share.

Given that the group’s turnaround initiatives will take time, it expects a delayed profit break-even target for the Pick n Pay grocery segment.

The group is now targeting the core Pick n Pay Segment to break even at the trading profit after lease interest level in FY29.

The group’s turnaround scheme included a massive Section 189A process, but this has been delayed following talks with the Department of Labour and Union officials.

Remuneration data