Shoprite doubles Whitey Basson’s pay after bonus

Johannesburg - Shoprite Holdings [JSE:SHP] doubled chief executive officer Whitey Basson’s pay last fiscal year to R100.1m, thanks to a bonus from Africa’s largest food retailer for beating a profit-growth target.

Basson’s remuneration included R49.7m in basic pay for the 12 months through June, in line with the previous year, and a R50m one-time performance-related bonus, the Cape Town-based company said in its annual report.

Trading profit growth of 15% beat an internal target of 11%, the retailer said.

Other reasons given by Shoprite for the bonus include that Basson hasn’t received a basic pay increase since 2013 and no one-time payments for five fiscal years, according to the report. The retailer also cited the CEO’s length of service at the company.

The 70-year-old has worked at Shoprite for 45 years and has been at the helm since 1979.

The decision comes less than a year after Shoprite’s largest shareholder, the Public Investment Corporation (PIC), voted against the company’s remuneration policy because the R50.1m pay awarded to Basson was mostly a fixed payment, rather than a performance-based salary.

The PIC didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the 2016 pay.

Shoprite shares gained 0.1% to R191.48 as of 12:29 in Johannesburg on Monday, valuing the retailer at R110bn.

The stock fell 4.1% during the year through June, compared with a 1.9% gain on the FTSE/JSE Africa Food & Drug Retailers Index.