Vodacom’s top executives have taken an effective pay cut in the 2015 financial year thanks to reductions in short-term incentives, the telecommunications group’s annual report, published at the weekend, shows.

In the year ended 31 March 2015, Vodacom CEO Shameel Joosub took home total remuneration of R10,9m, or more than R2m less than he earned in the 2014 financial year. Although his guaranteed package increased from R6,9m to R7,2m, a 39% cut in his bonus — to R3,7m — shaved 16% off his total remuneration before taxes.

Ivan Dittrich, Vodacom’s chief financial officer, saw his total package reduced by 17% to R6,2m as a result of a bonus that was cut nearly in half between 2014 and 2015. Dittrich’s guaranteed package rose by 4% to R4,7m.

Chief technology officer Andries Delport also took a cut in take-home pay, with his total package falling from R6,3m to R6m. Again, this was the result of a cut in his bonus which fell from R2,5m to R1,9m.

Others who saw their total packages reduced include chief officer for corporate affairs Maya Makanjee (from R3,9m to R3,8m); enterprise business unit chief officer Vuyani Jarana (R5,2m to 5,1m); legal and regulatory affairs chief officer Nkateko Nyoka (R5,5m to R5,2m); and chief operating officer for international operations Romeo Kumalo (R4,5m to R4,3m).

These packages exclude any allocations made in terms of Vodacom’s forfeitable share plan, which are subject to meeting stringent performance targets.

In 2015, Joosub was granted forfeitable shares worth an estimated R9,9m (down from R12,8m in 2014).

The cuts to bonuses come after Vodacom reported a 4% decline in headline earnings per share for the 2015 financial year and cut its dividend by 6,1%.

Normalised group revenue fell by 1,1% (hurt by cuts in wholesale inter-network call fees), while free cash flow for the year fell by 41% as the group invested heavily in expanding its network coverage. — (c) 2015 NewsCentral Media