Woolworths SA CEO Zyda Rylands was the only executive of the food and clothing group to be awarded a short-term bonus in financial 2019.
Rylands oversaw a comparatively strong performance at the local operations which helped to counter weak results from elsewhere.
Woolworths, which is the second-biggest retailer by market capitalisation on the JSE’s general retailers index, has operations in SA, Australia, and New Zealand. At 1.20pm, its shares were trading 0.75% lower at R55.53, giving it a market capitalisation of about R58.2bn.
Executive remuneration levels in 2019 were muted in line with the group’s overall pedestrian performance. But Rylands and CFO Reeza Isaacs as well as executive director Sam Ngumeni are benefiting from a once-off allocation of shares, with a current value of R56.1m, which were awarded in 2019 and will vest in five years.
Rylands’ R2.1m short-term incentive helped bump up her total remuneration to R12m, almost half of the R23m picked up by group CEO Ian Moir who currently heads up the troubled Australian business.
Moir’s 2019 pay package is 25% down on the R30.5m he was awarded in 2018 when long-term incentives boosted his R19m basic by R11.5m.
In both years Woolworths results were hit by massive write-offs at the Australian department store chain David Jones, which was acquired in 2014 for R21.5bn.
Moir, who had championed the acquisition, told journalists at the release of results in August that he regretted the pricing and timing of the acquisition but said he believes it is now a great asset. In 2019 Moir was also awarded R28.5m restricted shares as part of the group’s long-term incentive scheme.
Although remuneration for executives is expected to be muted in 2020, in line with expected profit performance, the group’s new chair Hubert Brody is set to get a 30% increase on the R1.7m fees paid to Simon Susman in 2018. Fees to the lead independent director are also set to surge 20%.
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