{"id":870370,"date":"2026-08-16T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-16T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=870370"},"modified":"2026-08-14T17:44:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T15:44:15","slug":"one-of-the-longest-serving-ceos-who-took-a-small-south-african-company-international-now-earns-over-r31000-a-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/870370\/one-of-the-longest-serving-ceos-who-took-a-small-south-african-company-international-now-earns-over-r31000-a-day\/","title":{"rendered":"One of the longest serving CEOs who took a small South African company international now earns over R31,000 a day"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Treve Hendry has spent almost 30 years building a small South African mining supplier to an international engineering and manufacturing group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hendry was appointed chief executive officer of Argent, then known as Scharrig Industrial Holdings, on 5 May 1997.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the company\u2019s annual reports, he has now served as CEO for 29 years, making him one of the longest-serving chief executives of a company listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His career at the group began shortly after he joined PMT Steel, an Argent subsidiary, as financial manager in August 1995.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A qualified chartered accountant, Hendry holds B.Com and B.Compt(Hons) degrees and completed his articles at Ernst & Young before working as a financial manager at Ferreira\u2019s Hardware.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He became Argent\u2019s financial director in early 1997 before taking over as CEO later that year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company itself was incorporated in 1993 as Scharrig Industrial Holdings and listed on the JSE in November 1994.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its early operations were closely linked to mining and included the manufacture of tipper trucks and the refurbishment of heavy engines. The company adopted the Argent Industrial name in 1999.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the 2000s, Argent expanded aggressively through acquisitions, building a broad portfolio of industrial, steel and consumer businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These included Jetmaster, Xpanda, Phoenix Steel, Castor & Ladder, Toolroom Services, Cedar Paint and Gammid Trading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, prolonged economic weakness, volatile steel prices, and labour instability eventually prompted a change in strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Between 2010 and 2017, the group progressively exited lower-margin and capital-intensive steel distribution and scrap operations, redirecting capital towards specialised manufacturing and property.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From 2018 onwards, the strategy increasingly focused on international expansion. Argent acquired businesses involved in fuel storage and industrial containers in the UK, while also expanding its manufacturing capacity abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group now has 32 companies, including New Joules Engineering in North America and Cannock Gates in the UK. More than 70% of its operating profits originate outside South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Massive pay for performance<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Hendry’s approach has been to maintain a diversified portfolio, with individual businesses operating independently while creating opportunities for trade between them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He has previously described the South African environment as one where companies have to \u201cchange the game, adapt and adjust\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BusinessTech\u2019s analysis of Argent\u2019s annual reports shows that Hendry\u2019s total remuneration rose from R3.417 million in 2016 to R11.428 million in 2026. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Across the 11-year period, his cumulative reported earnings amounted to R76.079 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His 2026 package equates to roughly R31,300 per day when divided across 365 days, although executive remuneration is not simply a daily salary and includes performance-related components.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Basic salary increases were generally linked to inflation, with 7% increases recorded in 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2025 and 2026, increases were reduced to 6%. There was no annual inflationary increase in 2021 because of the uncertainty created by the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Performance incentives have played a significant role in Hendry\u2019s overall remuneration. In 2022, his package exceeded R10.18 million, including a R1.871 million bonus and R3.574 million in share-option benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2026, his remuneration reached a new high of R11.428 million, including a record short-term incentive of R4.559 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The increase came as Argent reported its eighth consecutive year of earnings growth. Attributable earnings rose 8.5% to R293 million in 2026, while headline earnings per share increased 9.1% to 538.2 cents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group\u2019s net asset value per share rose to 3,837.1 cents, while ordinary dividends increased 11% to 141 cents per share. Argent also repurchased more than 1.27 million shares during the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The table below outlines Hendry\u2019s remuneration over the last 11 years as the head of Argent Industrial. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Year<\/th>Basic Salary (R ‘000)<\/th>Director Fees (R ‘000)<\/th> Other (R ‘000)<\/th>Performance Bonus (R ‘000)<\/th>Provident Fund (R ‘000)<\/th>LTIs(R ‘000)<\/th>Total Remuneration (R ‘000)<\/th><\/tr>
2016<\/strong><\/td>1,931<\/td>236<\/td>687<\/td>185<\/td>290<\/td>88<\/td>3,417<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
2017<\/strong><\/td>1,955<\/td>242<\/td>701<\/td>368<\/td>291<\/td>90<\/td>3,647<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
2018<\/strong><\/td>2,139<\/td>232<\/td>723<\/td>750<\/td>318<\/td>80<\/td>4,242<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
2019<\/strong><\/td>2,861<\/td>235<\/td>537<\/td>650<\/td>422<\/td>1,157<\/td>5,862<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
2020<\/strong><\/td>3,025<\/td>266<\/td>496<\/td>899<\/td>446<\/td>608<\/td>5,740<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
2021<\/strong><\/td>3,177<\/td>346<\/td>337<\/td>648<\/td>446<\/td>1,065<\/td>6,019<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
2022<\/strong><\/td>3,261<\/td>381<\/td>604<\/td>1,871<\/td>491<\/td>3,574<\/td>10,182<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
2023<\/strong><\/td>3,601<\/td>433<\/td>631<\/td>1,917<\/td>540<\/td>1,724<\/td>8,846<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
2024<\/strong><\/td>3,808<\/td>446<\/td>724<\/td>1,409<\/td>574<\/td>1,927<\/td>8,888<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
2025<\/strong><\/td>4,076<\/td>459<\/td>725<\/td>1,434<\/td>612<\/td>502<\/td>7,808<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
2026<\/strong><\/td>4,492<\/td>486<\/td>574<\/td>4,559<\/td>671<\/td>646<\/td>11,428<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Total<\/strong><\/td>34,326<\/strong><\/td>3,762<\/strong><\/td>6,739<\/strong><\/td>14,690<\/strong><\/td>5,101<\/strong><\/td>11,461<\/strong><\/td>76,079<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Treve Hendry has spent almost 30 years building a small South African mining supplier to an international engineering and manufacturing group.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":870388,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"failed","_sma_x_autopost_error":"Instagram publishing failed: Instagram returned HTTP 400: Media ID is not available","_sma_x_post_id":"2089004517077504004","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2177966426357090","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[26179,853],"class_list":["post-870370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-argent-industrial","tag-south-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=870370"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870370\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":870387,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870370\/revisions\/870387"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/870388"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=870370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=870370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=870370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}