Absa's shareholders have delivered one of the most stinging pay rebukes in South African banking history. At the group's annual general meeting, a remarkable 43.37% of voting shareholders rejected the bank's executive remuneration implementation report for 2025, a revolt triggered by the R148 million package handed to new chief executive Kenny Fihla.
The R148m question
Fihla took the reins at Absa in June 2025, arriving from rival Standard Bank. The bulk of his pay, around R98.5 million, was a one-off buyout award compensating him for unvested shares he forfeited by leaving Standard Bank. The rest comprised a fixed salary of R6.285 million, a short-term cash award of R12.15 million and a share award of R11.15 million.
Buyout awards of this kind are common when banks poach senior talent, but the eye-watering headline figure landed badly with investors already sensitive to executive excess at a time when many South Africans are feeling the squeeze.
Why it carries weight
Under South African governance rules, a vote of 25% or more against a remuneration resolution obliges the company to engage with dissenting shareholders and address their concerns. Absa has blown past that threshold by a wide margin, so meaningful engagement is now unavoidable rather than optional.
More pointed still, shareholders outright rejected the separate resolution on proposed non-executive director fees for the year ahead, a binding outcome with sharper legal consequences than the advisory vote on executive pay. The message from the room was unmistakable. Absa's board will need to show it is listening, and that the days of nodding pay packages through on autopilot are over.
Compiled by Business Bagel from reporting by Moneyweb and News24.
