Staff Reporter
Video entertainment group Multichoice is preparing for its public listing on the JSE in February 2019, and has published pre-listing documents which give insight into the various financial aspects of the business.
One of the key measurements the documents give insight to is remuneration of executives and general employees – as well as the gaps between them.
South Africa is known as one of the most unequal countries in the world when in comes to executive vs employee pay, where some chief executives can earn as much as 800 times the average salary of the people who work for them.
According to a PwC report in 2018, the pay ratio in South Africa – worker pay to CEO pay – was at 65:1 in 2018, up from 62:1 in 2017.
Multichoice’s pre-listing documents show that the group’s directors will be earning a total of R55.3 million in the 2019 financial year (ended March 2019), with the top earner taking home R22.15 million.
However, for the 2018 financial year, this was lower – R44.2 million – spread among 8 directors, with the top earner pulling in R19.7 million.
For FY2018, Multichoice paid salaries, wages and bonuses totalling R5.212 billion to 6,963 permanent employees, averaging at R748,528 per employee.
The average Multichoice director, with a salary of R5.5 million, earns about 7.3 times more than the average employee – with the top earner getting 26 times as much as the average worker.
Because executive pay is also included in the reported salaries spend, the top directors can also be taken out of the equation – but this doesn’t change the picture that much.
The table below outlines how average pay at Multichoice compares.
| Group | Employees | Salaries, wages and bonuses | Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multichoice Group | 6 963 | R5 212 million | R748 528 |
| Multichoice Directors | 8 | R44.14 million | R5 518 580 |
| Multichoice Group (excl. Directors) | 6 955 | R5 168 million | R743 062 |
Read: Multichoice’s top execs will earn a massive R55 million in salaries this year
