Capitec CEO scores a massive payday

 ·18 Apr 2023

Capitec’s annual remuneration report for 2023 was released on 18 April 2023 – revealing how much the bank’s top execs earned over the last financial year.

In its financial results for the full year ending 28 February 2023, Capitec showed strong growth despite the challenging environment within South Africa.

Headline earnings were up 15% to R9.7 billion from R8.4 billion the year before.

Income from operations grew 12% to R30.3 billion for the period, with net income up only marginally (2%) to R24 billion. The main contributor to the reduction in income came from credit impairments, which grew 80% to R6.3 billion.

The group declared a final dividend of 2,800 cents, taking the total dividend for the year to 4,200 – also up 15% in line with the group’s growth.

The bank also saw a significant jump in its client base, recording 20.1 million customers at the end of February 2023. This means that around one-third of the South African population (2022 est: 60.6 million) now banks with Capitec in some form.

Capitec said that the growth of its credit impairment charge needs to be understood in the context of the last four years, where things went from ‘normal’ (2020) to heavily disrupted by the pandemic (2021), to some recovery (2022), to again being disrupted by the Russian war in Ukraine (2023).

The group’s CET1 ratio of 34% (2022: 35%) and CAR ratio of 34% (2022: 36%) are well above the group’s board-approved regulatory requirements.

“As such, Capitec continues to be well-capitalised and positioned for future growth opportunities,” it said.

Executive pay

According to Capitec’s single-figure report, CEO Gerrie Fourie’s pay amounted to R62.09 million for 2023 – a 33% decrease from the R92.77 million he received in 2022.

This comprises his total guaranteed pay (TGP) – including benefits – of R16.92 million and a short-term cash incentive (STI) of R5.42 million. The group CEO also got a long-term incentive (including vested awards) of R39.74 million.

Fourie’s salary equates to him earning around R170,109 a day.

The group’s CFO, Andre du Plessis, took home R31.05 million for the year – a 48.5% decrease from the R60.35 million he received in 2022.

This is mainly due to Du Plessis receiving no STI due to his retirement, effective 30 June 2022.

Of Capitec’s top four executives, Grant Hardy took home the ‘smallest’ amount among the executives at R6.97 million.

Capitec noted that Hardy was appointed to the CFO position on 1 July 2022 and, as such, his STI and TGP are pro-rated by the number of months within the financial year that he was in the CFO position.

Combined, the four executives received a total of R114.59 million in salaries – averaging R28.64 million per exec.

Based on Capitec’s reported numbers, the group spent R6.2 billion on staff costs in 2023 for its 15,451 employees (including salaries and benefits). This translates to around R401,269 per employee.

The average executive earned 71 times more than the average employee, with the CEO earning 154 times more.

The table below outlines what Capitec’s top executives earned and how that translates per day.

Employee Total Remuneration Average per day
GM Fourie R62.09 million R170 109
AP du Plessis R31.05 million R85 068
NS Mashiya R14.47 million R39 643
GR Hardy R6.97 million R19 095
Capitec average R401 269 R1 099

Read: Absa’s top executives’ massive payday – earning a collective R207 million

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