Shareholders who hold almost half of Capitec's shares have voted against the remuneration package of R177 million paid to its top three executives in the past year.
Investors holding 47.5% of its shares voted against the implementation of Capitec's 2022 remuneration policy at its Annual General Meeting on Friday.
Capitec’s CEO Gerrie Fourie bagged R92.8 million, an 88% increase from the R49.2 million he earned in guaranteed pay and incentives a year earlier. CFO Andre Du Plessis got R60.4 million, also an 81% increase from the R33.3 million he earned the previous year. The bank's executive for risk management, Nkosana Mashiya, was paid R24.3 million, a 73% increase from his previous R14 million.
Shareholder votes on remuneration policies are non-binding, meaning that Capitec can pay executives even if shareholders voted against it. But if shareholders holding 25% or more of the company voted against the policies, the company must engage them to try to find a common ground.
Capitec has invited dissenting shareholders to submit written questions or comments to its company secretary by no later than Monday, 6 June 2022. The bank's remuneration committee will then engage them on 14 June.
This is the second year in a row that more than 25% voted against the implementation of the bank's remuneration policy.
In the 2021 AGM, investors holding more than 51% of shares shot down the implementation report, an unprecedented number of dissenting votes for the bank on this issue.
However, the three executive directors on the board still received R96.5 million in total remuneration – including long- and short-term incentives – for the 2021 financial year.
In the remuneration report, Capitec's Remco said Fourie and Du Plessis didn’t received an increase for the 2021 financial year. As such, its 2022 increase in pay was reflective of an increase covering a two-year period.
Mashiya's guaranteed pay was adjusted substantially in the 2021 financial year to align his remuneration with the market and his increased responsibilities, said the Remco.
The three executives' total remuneration for 2022 was 21.7% higher than for the year ended on 28 February 2020, before the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted banks. But it is lower than the R180 million they collectively earned in the 2019 financial year which ended on 28 February that year.
The bank's Remco said it sees this remuneration policy as a key component to attracting and retaining employees because there is a "fierce" battle for talent in the financial sector right now.
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