Moneyweb writes that in what could be interpreted as an indication of the extreme precariousness of Steinhoff’s existence, the retail group’s remuneration committee defines ‘long term’ as just one year.

Because of this unique perception of corporate ‘longevity’, CEO Louis du Preez’s annual bonus and one third of his long-term incentive were paid out in the same year and entirely in cash. In 2020, Du Preez’s accrued annual bonus and a portion of the long-term incentive, awarded at the beginning of that financial year, amounted to €1.5 million. It accounted for 44% of his total remuneration package of €3.4 million (R62.2 million). That was an increase of 26% on his 2019 package of €2.74 million (R49.4 million). hose figures are not going to go down well with long-suffering shareholders who, the remuneration committee noted, were concerned about the “size of the compensation packages in relation to the decreasing size and scope of the company”. Moreover, at last year’s annual general meeting, shareholders were concerned about the “lack of an equity-based compensation component with a sufficient long-term character, and the limited level of share ownership among executives”. It wasn’t just a matter of no long-term-based equity compensation, it was no equity compensation at all for the top executives. According to the recently released annual report, the remuneration committee considered shareholders’ concerns, then went ahead to pay the key executives huge packages of cash with not one share-based award in sight. So, shareholders might be inclined to assume that Steinhoff’s remuneration committee doesn’t believe the group has a future, even a 12-month-long future.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Ann Crotty at Moneyweb <https://www.moneyweb.co.za/news/companies-and-deals/steinhoff-remuneration-sure-to-raise-the-ire-of-shareholders/>

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