Business

The ‘rival’ who became Spur CEO and went from earning R50,000 to over R500,000 a week

Malcolm Libera

 ·9 Nov 2026

Val Nichas has seen her annual remuneration at Spur Corporation increase from R2.6 million, when she joined the restaurant group in 2021, to more than R26 million in 2026.

Nichas took over as chief executive officer of Spur Corporation on 1 January 2021, having previously held a senior executive position at Famous Brands, one of Spur’s biggest competitors.

At Famous Brands, she oversaw major quick-service restaurant businesses, including Steers, Debonairs Pizza, and Wimpy.

Her appointment at Spur brought an experienced fast-food industry executive to the group as it navigated the difficult trading conditions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Her remuneration has increased significantly over her five years at the company, with the group’s integrated annual reports showing that performance bonuses and long-term share incentives make up a large portion of it. 

In the 2021 financial year, Nichas received R2.6 million in guaranteed remuneration for the six months she worked at Spur.

No short-term or long-term incentives were awarded during this period, as the company had suspended incentive schemes as part of its Covid-19 austerity measures.

The following financial year saw her total remuneration increase to R11.534 million.

This included R5.2 million in guaranteed remuneration, a R4.2 million short-term incentive, R630,000 in bonus-matching shares and a retrospective R1.5 million performance bonus relating to the 2021 financial year.

Spur explained that formal performance assessments began in 2022 and that Nichas met her personal scorecard requirements.

In 2023, her total remuneration increased further to R12.422 million. This included R5.645 million in guaranteed remuneration, a R6.083 million performance bonus and R676,000 in bonus-matching shares.

However, her remuneration declined to R11.161 million in 2024, as the short-term incentive decreased to R4.658 million.

Although her guaranteed remuneration increased to R5.957 million, the company attributed the lower incentive to financial performance scores that were below budget.

The biggest increase came in 2025, when her total remuneration nearly doubled to R20.588 million.

While her guaranteed remuneration increased to R6.255 million and her short-term incentive reached R4.952 million, the main contributor was R8.788 million from the vesting of long-term share appreciation rights.

These rights were allocated in October 2021 and vested in October 2024 after the company achieved the required headline earnings and headline earnings per share performance conditions.

TOP performance as CEO

In the 2026 financial year, Nichas received total remuneration of R26.057 million, equivalent to approximately R501,000 per week.

This represented a 26.6% increase from the previous year. Her guaranteed remuneration reached R6.599 million, while her short-term incentive increased to R5.375 million. A further R13.443 million came from long-term share appreciation rights.

The company said her short-term incentive reflected an actual business performance score of 102.5% and a personal performance factor of 133%.

Her performance assessments remained positive throughout her tenure, with weighted-average scorecard ratings ranging from 3.4 to 3.9 out of 5.

The remuneration increases coincided with a substantial expansion of Spur’s business.

Over its five-year strategy period, from 2021 to 2026, the group’s restaurant turnover more than doubled, from R6 billion to R12.3 billion.

Adjusted profit before tax increased from R147.8 million to R453 million, while adjusted earnings per share rose from 110.85 cents to 376.65 cents.

The group’s share price also increased from R19.25 in 2021 to R43.10 in 2026, reaching a record high of R45.49 on 29 May 2026.

The restaurant network also expanded to 751 locations, comprising 639 South African restaurants and 112 international outlets.

Nichas also oversaw changes to the group’s traditional restaurant model, which included the introduction of Spur and RocoMamas drive-thrus, click-and-collect services, and virtual kitchen brands such as Just Wingz.

The group also acquired a 60% controlling interest in the Doppio Collection, which includes Doppio Zero, Piza e Vin, and Modern Tailors.

Spur chairman Mike Bosman credited Nichas and her leadership team with providing renewed strategic focus and organisational cohesion.

In its 2026 integrated report, the company described the financial year as the culmination of its five-year strategy, highlighting improvements in leadership capacity, accountability, employee engagement, and overall business performance.

Here is the remuneration table for CEO Val Nichas from FY2021 to FY2026.