How much money top CEOs in South Africa earn

A new report published by financial services company, PwC, has revealed the pay of executives of companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE).

The report noted that as at 30 April 2015 there were 355 active JSE-listed companies with a combined market capitalisation of R11.926 trillion.

The report found that the median total guaranteed pay (TGP) among CEOs in 2014 was R4.13 million – up 4.8% from R3.94 million in 2013.

The average inflation in SA for 2014, was 6.1%.

The upper quartile earned an average TGP of R7.135 – up 7.7% from 2013 – while the lower quartile earned an average of R3.06 million, up 2.1%.

The report found that six CEOs on the JSE, earned above R25 million in 2014, while 13 earned between R20-R25 million, while just under 120 received a TGP of between R5-R10 million.

Some of the Top 40 companies listed on the JSE have addressed the internal wage gap in one form or another, PwC said.

Companies have elected to address the wage gap by mitigating the average base salary increases for executives and increasing the salary increase percentages for management and general staff.

Other companies’ CEOs have foregone salary increases entirely in order to demonstrate their commitment to addressing the internal wage gap, the financial services company said.

In the FTSE 100 reports submitted during September 2014 and March 2015, 45% of the CEOs reported no salary increases. The median increase was 2%.

PwC said that only six basic resources companies are listed among the large cap companies on the JSE. The median TGP for CEOs of large-cap basic resource companies is R21.6 million, and the median TGP for executive directors is R15.1 million.

The median TGP for the CEOs of large-cap companies in the financial services sector has shown a modest inflationary increase, as in the prior year (R7 million).

The median TGP for large-cap CEOs at industrial organisations also showed a modest increase – R13.9 million –  after a substantial decline in 2012 of R10 million.

As at 30 April 2015 there were 1,180 executive directors at JSE-listed companies, an increase of 3.1% on the previous year, PwC said.

When comparing the 2,204 non-executive directors on listed company boards, the ratio of executives to non-executives are in line with the global norm.

The median age for executive directors is 54, PwC said.

More on pay in South Africa

SA banking CEO pay vs the world

CEO pay vs performance in South Africa

Your salary vs the rest of the world

Working for no salary is high risk, high reward: SA billionaire