Sibanye chiefs take double-digit cut in their remuneration

JOHANNESBURG – Sibayne-Stillwater’s chief executive and chief financial officer took a double-digit pay cut last year, despite the mining company swinging into a profit on improved metal prices, according to its 2019 annual report released yesterday.

This as the mining group’s wage bill rose 37 percent in South Africa and 16 percent in the US.
Remuneration in South Africa has long been targeted by unions due to the wide income gap between workers and top executives.
The company said it remained committed to remuneration fairness across all levels of the organisation.
Chief executive Neal Froneman received a total of R34.52 million, including an R8.2m salary, 11.6 percent less than the R39.52m total cash remuneration in 2018.
Chief financial officer Charl Keyter received a total remuneration of R17.5m, including a R6.25m, salary, 12.7 percent less than his R19.8m in 2018.
However, overall Sibanye boosted the pay of its executive directors and prescribed officers by 14 percent to R153.6m in cash remuneration in 2019 last year compared with R135m in 2018.
The company said the total wage bill at its South African operations in 2019 last year was R18 billion, up from R13.1bn in 2018, while total wages and salaries at the US Platinum Group Metal (PGM) operations in 2019 was $191m (R2.8bn) from $164m a year earlier.
Over the past five years, Sibanye-Stillwater’shas grown from being a South African gold producer to a multinational precious metals producer whose workforce increased from 35 000 to more than 80 000 people in South Africa and the US.
Last week, Sibanye-Stillwater became the first South African mining company to announce that its board and executive management had unanimously elected to contribute a third of their remuneration for the next three months to the Solidarity Fundn South Africa.
The company’s financial highlights for 2019 included a 44 percent increase in revenue to R73bn resulting in a net profit of R432.8m. compared to a net loss of R2.5bn in 2018. It also acquired full ownership of  Lonmin’s assets, and in January 2020 it increased its shareholding in DRDGold to 50.1 percent from 38 percent.
In the annual report, group chairperson Vincent Maphai and Froneman said last year from operational and financial perspectives was a tale of two halves.
Sibanye-Stillwater was rocked by a wage strike at its South African gold operations in the first half, which began in November 2018 and was concluded on  April, 17, 2019. In the second half of 2019, the company rode the wave of improved metal prices with the average PGM basket price improving by 17 percent and 21 percent, respectively for its US PGM operations and SA PGM operations.
At its South African gold operations, the average gold price increased by 9 percent compared to the first half of 2019.
“The year was one of  stark contrasts, with the second half significantly improved compared to the strike-impacted first half of the year. The position adopted during the protracted strike at our South Africa gold operations was necessarily robust, with the strike finally ending in an agreed settlement in April 2019 on the same terms that had previously been agreed with the other recognised unions in October 2018,” they said.
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Source: iol.co.za