Latest news with #Thunström
The Citizen
31-07-2025
- Business
- The Citizen
Big payday at TFG: Here is how much the CEO and staff received
On top of the salary increase, CEO Anthony Thunström also received a bonus worth millions of rands. In a time where most South Africans are not prioritising clothing, The Foschini Group (TFG) has gone for a bold move and given its employees, including the CEO, salary increases. Is fashion doing that well? Despite everyone receiving an increase, the pay gap between the CEO and ordinary staff members is still mind-blowing. TFG operates a wide range of retail brands, including clothing, jewellery, tech, and furniture. Some of the well-known brands under TFG are Foschini, Markham, Sportscene, Totalsports, @home, Jet, The Fix, and Hi. Recently, TFG established an online platform, Bash, to sell their products with Luke Jedeikin and Claude Hanan. The two men are the founders of Superbalist, which was later sold to Takealot. The group is also known for offering qualifying young adults accounts where they can make purchases and pay back the retailer over a six-month or more period. ALSO READ: Foschini Group's online platform, Bash, boosts sales TFG increases staff salaries Dineo Noganta, Head of TFG Communications, told The Citizen that for the financial year 2025, CEO Anthony Thunström received a 5% increase, and so did the general staff and management. However, store and distribution centre employees' wages received a higher increase of 6%. Without revealing the amount, she added that the lowest store employee earns higher than the retail Sectoral Determination minimum wage due to the benefits they receive. 'The lowest store employee earns a basic pay aligned with the retail Sectoral Determination minimum but also receives benefits, which increase their pay to 50% higher than the retail Sectoral Determination minimum wage.' TFG gives CEO bonus While Thunström received a lower increase than other employees, he still outearns them. On top of the 5% increase, he also received a bonus of R4.1 million. A CEO's salary is typically set by the board of directors, which oversees the company's strategic direction and governance. The board assess the CEO's performance and sets remuneration in alignment with company goals and values, taking into consideration the individual's experience, the company's size and growth, and key performance metrics. ALSO READ: Capitec CEO tops banking pay charts — but how do staff salaries compare? A look at how SA's top five banks pay Breakdown of CEO salary According to the group's remuneration report for the year ended 31 March 2025, Thunström's guaranteed salary increased to more than R16 million after the 5% increase. His package deal includes an annual incentive worth more than R10 million. This is a bonus given based on the company's performance. He also received a deferred incentive worth more than R16 million. This is a bonus that will only be given to him at a later stage. Deferred incentives differ according to an agreement between the CEO and the company. The report also showed that Thunström received dividends worth more than R1 million. His salary package cost the company more than R44 million. However, this is lower than the R63.8 million he received in 2023. A strategy to retain talent? It is normal for the remuneration of one executive to exceed the combined salaries of ten staff members, due to differences in qualifications, experience, and responsibilities. Therefore, the difference in salaries is surely justifiable. But to what degree? David Shapiro, Sasfin Securities global equities strategist, told News24 that it is difficult to establish if the pay received by CEOs was worth it or not. He highlighted that there have been major increases in executives' pay across most companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). Shapiro is of the view that to some extent, the increases are being fuelled by companies trying to keep up with one another and retain their CEOs. NOW READ: Pick n Pay CEO receives the highest salary in retail. Here's how much others get
IOL News
06-06-2025
- Business
- IOL News
TFG's robust earnings reflect strategic growth and online success
TFG's results for its 2025 financial year underscored a focus on market share growth, margin improvement and cost management, said its CEO, Anthony Thunström Image: Supplied JSE-listed international fashion, homeware and lifestyle retailer TFG's robust financial results for the year to end-March 2025 were fueled by a strong second half from TFG Africa, store expansion, and the acquisition of White Stuff in the UK. Headline earnings a share (HEPS) were up 4.6% to 1015.6 cents. The final dividend was raised by 15% to 230 cents a share. 'The result underscored a 'relentless' focus on market share growth, margin improvement, and cost management,' CEO Anthony Thunström said in a statement. The group has a portfolio of 39 leading retail brands, with over 4 900 outlets in 23 countries on five continents. 'We are targeting the opening of over 100 new stores in the coming year while optimising our existing footprint. With the Riverfields distribution centre now close to fully operational—alongside our other growth and efficiency strategies—we expect continued improvement in operating margins and capital returns in 2026 and beyond,' said Thunström. The Africa business led the charge in the past year with "exceptional" results in the second half. Online sales surged, driven by the success of the Bash platform, which had reached profitability two years ahead of schedule: 'a very likely unique achievement in the South African retail space,' said Thunström. Gross margins expanded by 150 basis points. These gains, along with disciplined cost management across divisions, translated into solid profit growth. Online sales maintained momentum and accounted for 12% of group sales, up from 9.9% the previous year. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading TFG Africa's sales were up 7% in the second half as the base normalised from the prior year's first half's clearance activity. All brands and categories showed improvement, generating full-year growth of 3.7%. Thunström said there was strong growth ahead of the market from womenswear, beauty, and jewellery, as well as recently acquired businesses, Jet and Tapestry, where the retail platform provided credit, online, and distribution capabilities. Online sales grew 43.5% and contributed 5.8% (2024: 4.2%) to total TFG Africa sales. TFG UK increased sales 16.4% in pounds following the acquisition of White Stuff from October 25, 2024. White Stuff saw 20.3% year-on-year growth for the five months post-acquisition. The addition of White Stuff to the portfolio saw store sales up 11.8% and online sales grow 22.5%. Online sales now contribute 44.8% (42.7%) of total TFG UK sales. TFG Australia faced difficult trading conditions, with sustained high inflation and interest rates impacting the consumer. Sales were 2.6% lower in Australian dollars, with a mixed performance throughout the second half in a 'highly promotional market,' Thunström said. Online sales grew by 7.3% and now contribute 8.1% (7.3%) to total TFG Australia sales.
TimesLIVE
06-06-2025
- Business
- TimesLIVE
End of tax loophole for Shein starting to have impact, say SA retailers
South Africa's closure of a tax loophole that benefited global discount e-commerce retailers Shein and Temu is starting to show positive signs as some consumers reject the higher prices, the CEOs of local fashion retailers Mr Price and TFG said on Friday. Last November South Africa's tax authority ended the practice known as de minimis, which allowed companies to drop-ship packages valued at less than R500 from suppliers in China to consumers in South Africa, paying a flat rate of 20% in lieu of customs duties and no VAT of 15%. Other markets including the US, UK and EU are also closing or planning to close loopholes that have given low-cost online platforms such as Shein and Temu, owned by PDD Holdings', pricing advantages. 'There's nothing punitive about them. It's just levelling the playing field so everybody trading in South Africa and importing products pays the same duties,' TFG CEO Anthony Thunström told Reuters in an interview after the company's earnings release. Thunström and Mr Price CEO Mark Blair said it was difficult to get official data to quantify the exact impact on the fast-fashion giants. 'But our understanding is that the closure of that loophole has significantly slowed down some of the international pure play online into South Africa,' Thunström said.
