MTN South Africa CEO gets R26-million payday

MTN SA CEO Charles Molapisi’s single-figure remuneration has decreased by 2% to R26.3 million after the mobile network operator reported a 5.1% Ebitda decline in South Africa.

This is according to MTN’s integrated report for the 2024 financial year, which was released this week.

Molapisi’s remuneration declined due to substantially lower long-term incentives that vested during the period.

Based on his company and team performance scores, Molapisi’s short-term incentives outcome was 89.11% of his R11-million annual fixed package.

Regarding MTN South Africa’s performance, service revenue increased by 3.1%, buoyed by data, enterprise, and fintech revenue increases that offset a 5.5% decline in outgoing voice revenue.

Wholesale revenues in South Africa, which include incoming voice revenue,  also declined by 0.4%.

“MTN SA continued to navigate a challenging macro environment in 2024, with interest rates remaining relatively elevated and economic growth subdued,” the company reported.

“However, the slowing inflation rate and the introduction of the two-pot retirement system benefited consumers, increasing their ability to spend. Within the telecoms sector, competition in the market intensified.”

MTN Group CEO Ralph Mupita also saw his remuneration decrease compared to the year before. His single-figure remuneration dropped 20% to R65 million after the group posted an R11 billion loss in 2024.

Mupita’s remuneration decrease was also primarily due to his long-term incentives declining from R46.6 million in 2023 to R18.6 million in 2024.

The decline in long-term incentives comes after the group was affected by the devaluation of the Naira in its largest market, Nigeria, and high inflation levels in key markets.

The conflict in Sudan also impacted the group’s operational and financial performance. Despite these headwinds, the group’s customer base reached 291 million.

The company’s report showed that group earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, and amortisation (Ebitda) rose by 10.2% to R70.1 billion on a constant currency basis, but fell by 33% on a reported basis.

The group’s service revenue declined by 5.4% on a reported basis to R177.8 billion, while data revenue dropped by 12.3% on a reported basis.

In the context of the group’s overall performance decline, MTN South Africa’s performance was a bright spot.

MTN Group’s total loss after tax in 2024 reached R11.2 billion, well below the R4 billion after-tax profit in 2023.

The group’s basic earnings per share declined by 334% to a loss of 531 cents per share. Reported headline earnings also dropped by 68.9% to 98 cents per share.

Nevertheless, the group increased its dividend from 330 cents per share in the prior year to 345 cents per share, with the dividend paid out of revenue reserves.

Amid the group’s difficult period, Mupita and Molapisi were not the only executive to see their pay decline. MTN Nigeria CEO Karl Toriola’s remuneration also dropped by 13.2% to R35.4 million.

Similarly, MTN Senior Vice President of Markets Ebenezer Asante saw his remuneration decline by 25% to R37.8 million.

On the other hand, the Group’s CFO, Tsholofelo Molefe, saw her remuneration increase by 14.1% to R33.6 million after her short-term incentives increased by R5 million to R12.6 million.