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At R41.5m Gold Fields has best-paid SA gold CEO

Johannesburg - Nick Holland was the top-paid chief executive officer of the four biggest gold producers even as Gold Fields [JSE:GFI] fell in 2015 and had a lower market value than rival AngloGold Ashanti [JSE:ANG].

Holland, 57, who became a lightning rod for investor anger over executive pay three years ago, received $2.83m (R41.5m) in 2015, 8.8% more than a year earlier, Gold Fields said in its annual report publish on Wednesday. Returns from the producer’s shares including dividends plunged 19% in the period.

AngloGold, the country’s biggest gold producer by market value, paid CEO Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan $1.9m (R27.9m) last year, 28% more than in 2015, after forgoing bonuses in previous years. The company’s shares returned 4.5% last year.

AngloGold’s market value is R83bn ($5.6bn) compared with Gold Fields’ R48bn.

Holland sparked an investor backlash after receiving R45.3m in 2012. Old Mutual [JSE:OML] fund manager Michael Schroder accused gold executives including Holland of “personal greed” amid poor performance. The Gold Fields CEO’s pay dropped by 45% the following year and he declined a cash bonus in response to  governance failings relating to the company’s South Deep mine.

Sibanye Gold [JSE:SGL] CEO Neal Froneman received R19.9m in 2015, a 55% increase on the previous year, according to its annual report. The company’s shares returned 4.4% in the period.

Graham Briggs, the former CEO of Harmony Gold Mining [JSE:HAR], was the lowest-paid leader of the four largest producers, taking home R10m, a slight decrease from a year earlier. He left the role at the end of the year. Returns from Harmony’s shares declined 28% in 2015.

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